A Sword Is Like A Knife
by FinnickOdair-Will-Live-Forever
Summary: People say that high school can kill you. In Clove's case, this is entirely true. Balancing school, training, friends and mourning is never easy, but now Cato has been thrown into the mix. Despite warnings to keep away from him, Clove finds herself drawn to him. But people like her don't mix with people like him. Will she find a way, or will she be crushed by an evil named Glimmer?
1. From Ohio To Virginia

**Hey guys, this is my first Clato fic and I'm excited to write it even if it ends up sucking. ;) It's AU. I don't own The Hunger Games. :( If I did, Finnick would still be alive. :'( AN: THIS IS RATED T for language and violence.**

My name is Clove Fuhrman. In less than four hours I will be in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. It's not easy you know, dropping everything and moving to an entirely different state. I'll miss Ohio. I'll miss my friends. And I'll miss _him_.

_Rain pours down, and lightning strikes overhead. He shakes his head at me, turns around and walks away. Thoughts run through my head, the main one being 'will I ever see him again?'_

I shook the memory from my head and continued the walk around my now empty house. The moving van is loaded; my family is waiting on me now. But I had stubbornly told them that I would not leave until I had taken one last walk around the house. I had lived here for seventeen years, after all. My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I ignored it. It'll be a goodbye text from my best friend Marla. I could hear my father honking the van's horn, telling me that we had to leave. Quickly, I ran up the stair case and into my old room. I pried open a loose floorboard with my fingers. Underneath, was an A4 sized box. I scooped it up, put the floorboard back in place, and dashed outside.

"What's that?" My mother asked, frowning at the box.

"Just some old books I forgot to throw away." I lied as I climbed into the van and buckle myself in. My younger sister didn't even try to hide the fact that she doesn't believe me. She knew exactly what this box is. I told her that I'd thrown it out. She rolled her eyes at me and looked back down at her phone. I closed my eyes as we pull out of our driveway for the last time and tried to get some sleep.

I woke as the van stops. I had not seen our new house yet, but my father had driven down two days ago with our beds, oven and fridge. We had been living off of takeaways and seeping on camp beds since then. The house already had a toilet and a shower, so it was more a case of unpacking our things and setting up our living room. I jumped out of the van after my mother, closely followed by my sister.

"Hey mom, can I have a bigger room than Clove this time? All she uses her room for anyway is her weird knives." Lydia asked.

"Actually girls, you'll be sharing a room. Yours is the first on the right. We need to use the third bedroom as a study. That isn't a problem, is it?" Our dad asked. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister. We're closer than anything other siblings I've met, except for maybe Katniss and her little sister, but I'd rather have a room to myself.

"But Dad, you know I need my own room." I protested.

"It's true Dad, she might stab me in my sleep or something." I shot her a glare and she quickly added, "Accidentally, of course."

"Sorry girls. Clove, you'll have to stop training in the house." I sighed and made my way into the house. When I got into my room, I shoved the box under my bed before throwing myself onto my mattress. I'm exhausted, and I start at Mockingjay High for twelve to eighteen year olds tomorrow.

"Clove! Lydia!" I glanced up from the gravel floor just in time to be tackled by Primrose Everdeen. Katniss stood behind her, laughing.

"Sorry. I just haven't seen you in ages." Prim smiled as Katniss offered me her hand and pulled me up. When I was ten and Lydia was six, we had taken a trip to West Virginia. We were here for the whole summer, and we gotten to know Katniss and Prim. We'd been friends ever since.

"Here, I picked up your schedules for you. Lydia's is the same as Prim's and yours is almost the same as mine, Clove. Come on, we have English first." I followed Katniss into the building after hugging Lydia goodbye. As I walked through the doorway, I collided with a tall boy. From the first look, I could tell that he lives a life of luxury.

"Watch where you're going there, darling. I'd hate to see a pretty girl like you get hurt." The boy placed a hand on my waist and grinned at me.

"Cut it out, Marvel. It's her first day here, she doesn't want you bothering her with your sleaziness." Katniss frowned.

"It's okay Katniss, I'm friendly." He grinned at me again. By then, we had the attention of the whole class. I narrowed my eyes.

"Remove your hand from my waist or I will stab you into a hundred little pieces." I smiled sweetly at him as his eyes widened in horror. The other students were trying to stifle their laughter.

"Let her go, Marvel. She's not your type." An even taller boy standing at the back of the classroom called out. He raked a hand through his blonde hair and laughed. A slim blonde girl was stood next to him.

"Oh, Cato. You crack me up." She slapped his arm playfully and winked at her. The boy, Cato, smirked and slung his arm around her waist.

"Marvel?" I narrowed my eyes again.

"Y-yes?"

"Now, please." He withdrew his hand from my waist and slunk to the back of the room just as the teacher walked in.

"Sorry about that. Marvel's not that bad, really. He just likes to tease new students." Katniss whispered in my ear as the teacher showed students to their desks.

"Yeah. Seems it." I muttered sarcastically. I ended up sat at the blonde boy.

"I'm Clove." I introduced myself as the lesson started.

"And I don't care." Cato replied.

"Umm…Excuse me?"

"I said I don't care." He said, talking as if I was slow.

"I know what you said. I just thought it was _rude_." I glared at him and he glared right back.

"Don't take it personally. It's just that guys like me don't talk to girls like you." He sighed.

"Guys like you?"

"Yeah. Every guy in this school wants to be _me_. I'm the strongest, the fastest, the best looking…" He trailed off.

"The most arrogant…" I finished.

"Just shut up, yeah?" He grumbled.

"Gladly." I turn away from him and didn't look over again all lesson.

At lunch, Katniss and I made our way to the gym. Ever since guns were banned in the area, people were encouraged to train with another weapon. Katniss used a bow and arrows like a professional and I threw knives. I'd also dabbled in sword work and spear work. As soon as we got inside, Katniss made her way over to the archery stand and I made my way to the knives.

"Hey, Clove." I spun around at the sound of my name.

"What do you want?" I turned away again. Cato and his posse weren't exactly people I wanted to talk to.

"I was just wondering what a person like you was doing in the training gym. Don't you have a book to read or something?" He sneered, and the blonde girl let out an over the top laugh. Marvel and a boy I didn't recognize we're snickering. A girl I also didn't recognize was also laughing. I could feel anger boiling inside me. I had been using knives since I was _nine_. I sent one flying at Cato's head. He ducked, but his friends all hit the floor.

"Go fuck yourself, Cato." I said, and made my way over to the spear station where Katniss was stood watching me with some of her friends.

"That was pretty impressive…Maybe you should train with us from now on." A boy with bronze hair smiled at me. He was holding the hand of a petty girl with dark hair. "I'm Finnick. This is Annie. That's Thresh, Rue, Marie but call her Foxface, Gale, Peeta, Haymitch, Beetee, Wiress and Johanna. You already know Katniss. Hey, want a sugar cube?"

**I hope you liked the first chapter. :) They probably won't all be this long. Review and tell me what you think so far? :)**


	2. The TTE

**I don't own The Hunger Games. Katniss is OOC in this story. :(**

I trained for almost the whole lunch hour, leaving fifteen minutes to shower and change my clothes. I made my way out of the female changing room and almost walked straight into Cato. I really need to start watching where I'm going.

"Sorry." I mumbled, swerving to avoid contact.

"That was a good throw you back there." He said, looking at me strangely. "I didn't think you had it in you. Maybe I was wrong about you, Clove Fuhrman." With that, he sauntered of down the hallway.

"I thought people like you didn't talk to girls like me!" I called to his back.

"Maybe I can make an exception." He smirked before turning the corner and disappearing from view.

"Clove, come on. We're going to be late for math." Katniss burst out of the changing room, grabbed my arm and started sprinting. I could only just keep up. I can beat her at long distance, but she was the best female sprinter in the state.

"Katniss, slow down!" I yelled as we sped up another staircase and into a hallway. She stopped running when we reached a doorway and I almost ran straight into her.

"Girls, you're late. Katniss, sit next to Thresh please." Our math teacher Mrs Mull scanned down her class list for my name. "Clove Fuhrman…Next to Glimmer, please." I dropped my bag down underneath the desk and mentally groaned. Glimmer was Cato's girlfriend, the annoying blonde.

"Hey there, Clovey." She shot me a fake smile.

"It's Clove." I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Whatever, Clovey. I saw you talking to Cato earlier. I was stood just around the corner. What were you talking about?" Her voice had a dangerous edge to it.

"Why do you care?" I asked. Annoying this girl would be fun.

"Because we've been in a relationship for eight months. Jealous?" She smirked.

"Not really." I shook my head.

"Ugh, just stay away from him okay? I know that you're trained with that knife and I suppose you're pretty fierce. Cato finds that kind of thing attractive. So stay away and we'll have no problem." She smiled sweetly again and waved to Cato who was sat on the other side of the room. He winked at her, causing Glimmer to giggle. If Cato found fierce girls attractive, he must find Glimmer absolutely disgusting. Not that the other boys did. Half of the ones in our class were ogling her. A few were staring at Katniss, even though they knew that she'd been with Gale for a year and wasn't ready to start dating someone else. But I knew that she'd end up with Peeta. I'd met both of the boys when I came down here again for my fourteenth birthday.

"Trust me Glimmer, the problems we have will _not _have anything to do with Cato. He's a jerk." I frowned.

"Maybe to you. But he's sweet and caring when you get to know him. Oh, that reminds me! In 12 weeks is the TTE. It stands for Teenager Training Event. Each school puts forward one boy and one girl to be enrolled in an elite training programme. It last for five days. The instructors will be watching us closely in training."

"What does this have to do with your jealousy and Cato?" I asked, not wanting to show how interested I really was in this training programme.

"Cato will, without a doubt, be submitted into the programme. And I want to get submitted. The TTE is in New York, which would be super romantic for me and Cato! I want you to fight me in hand to hand combat class next lesson. The instructors will be watching, so lose okay?"

"Uhh…Sure." I lied. I had no intention of letting this girl beat me in a fight. I'd never live it down.

"Great!" The bell sounded and Glimmer clapped her hands. She packed her books into her bag. "Come on!" She dragged me down the two flights of stairs and into to the changing room. I sighed and changed into my training clothes. When we were both ready, Glimmer grabbed my elbow and pulled me into the gym. I mouthed _help me _at Katniss, but she just smiled weakly at me.

"Who wants to have a go first?" The instructor asked the class. There was about thirty of us in total including me, Katniss, Glimmer, Cato, Marvel, Johanna, Finnick and Peeta. We were in partners, and Glimmer had forced me into working with her. The instructor, Mr Gun, was asking for volunteers to fight for the class to witness their technique. The winner of the fight would also be inspected more closely for the TTE. So of course, Glimmer's hand shot straight up.

"We will, sir!" She shot Cato a smile as we made our way to the front of the class but he was too busy looking at me with assessing eyes to notice. My knife throwing coach back in Ohio had looked at me like that on my first day of training. Cato was trying to figure out my weakness and strengths by looking at the way I walked, assessing my starting position, watching the way I held my head, anything that he could find useful. After all, it's important to find out whatever you can about your opponents.

"You may begin." Mr Gun said, and stepped out of our way. Glimmer stood facing me with her fists up in an offensive stance. I stood with my hands by my sides, already knowing her first move. She jumped towards me and swung, but I dodged and grabbed her arm. I pulled it behind her back and floored her. I punched her in the stomach, but she managed to roll me over hit me in the windpipe. Her hand slowly closed around my throat. I thrust my knee upwards into her gut and she went flying off of me. I threw myself on top of her and started to strangle her. When she turned blue, the instructor informed me that I had won and that I should probably let go. I stood up and brushed my hands down my sleeves before offering one to Glimmer. She ignored me and picked herself up off of the floor.

"That was very impressive, young lady. What's your name?" Mr Gun asked.

"Clove Fuhrman, sir." I responded.

"You seem like an interesting candidate for the TTE. Do you specialize in any particular weapon?"

"Throwing knives. But I've dabbled in sword work and spear throwing, sir, as well as learning survival skills and long distance running." I said, speaking to him like I would my old coach.

"Great. I want you to train after school with Cato every Friday. Dismissed."

Oh, crap.

**This chapter was a bit like the last one, sorry about that. :(**


	3. Clovey!

**I don't own The Hunger Games. Italics is the past week, and then in the later part it's a memory.**

**Three Weeks Later:**

After spending three after school training sessions and four lunch time ones with him, I have decided that Cato is not so bad. But if anyone asked, I would say he is an annoying, arrogant dickhead, which he is most of the time. But I guess Glimmer was right, because he can be a good person. Take last week for example.

"_Clove, come on! We've been trying this for three hours and you _still _haven't got it!" One of the instructors shouted. "It's dodge, duck, jump, sidestep, slash, stab. Not dodge, jump, duck, sidestep, slash, slash!"_

"_Sorry…" I mumbled, picking up my sword to try again. Cato and I had been sparring ever since school ended, and I was exhausted._

"_Hey, we've been in training for four hours. Cut her some slack, she's trying her best." Cato said. I was surprised that he was sticking up for me. When I asked him about it later he said,_

"_I really was wrong about you. And now it looks like we're going to be going to the TTE together, so we may as well at least try to get along."_

I wouldn't exactly call us good friends, but we don't hate each other all the time. There's still moments when I want to gouge his eyes out.

"Hey, Clove." Katniss whispered. She was sat next to me and we were in Biology class.

"Yeah?" I whispered back, ignoring the glare from our science teacher.

"I'm going to the arcade after school with Peeta and Gale. Want to come?" She asked. She looked slightly hopeful, though she'd never admit it. If I was there, things would be less awkward between them. Katniss and Gale were still best friends, but Gale dislike Peeta because it was obvious that he liked Katniss.

"Sure. We'll hit up the slot machines like the pros we are." I grinned. When I was fourteen, Katniss and I had told all of her friends that we were like professionals at slot machines. We went to prove it, but I tripped and fell on one of the machines. All of the alarms went off, and we almost get sent to a holding cell downtown.

"Okay, cool. I'll meet you at the front gate after algebra."

"Clovey, grab a sword. We're sparring." Cato said as he walked into the gym at lunch time.

"Firstly, do _not _call me Clovey. You're not that bitch Glimmer."

"Easy Clove, she may be evil but she's still my girlfriend."

"Secondly," I ignored him and carried on speaking, "We did sword drills yesterday. We're doing knife throwing today."

"Says who?" Cato pretended to pout.

"Says me, the scary girl with the knife." Cato picked up his own knife, and I effortlessly threw mine at the dummy. It hit it right where its eye would have been.

"But I've never done knife throwing." Cato frowned, not liking the fact that he had to admit he couldn't do something.

"First we'll work on your stance, then. Stand like this. No, don't hold your arms like that, you'll stab yourself!" I pushed his elbow up slightly and nodded at him to throw the knife. It skimmed against the dummy's arm and he frowned even more.

"Knifes suck."

"No, you just suck at throwing them. But I'll help you. You're just flinging the knife and not looking at the target. You have to stare at the spot you want the knife to hit. Aim for the heart." I pulled the knife out of the far wall and handed it to him. His fingers brushed against mine when I handed it to him and a memory pushed its way into my mind.

"_Clove, you know you want me." Johnny smirked._

"_I don't. I know I _don't _want you." I glared at him. He grabbed three of my fingers and bent them back, snapping them. I bit back a shriek and just continued to glare at him._

"_How about now?"_

"_Breaking someone's fingers isn't very alluring, Johnny." I sighed._

"_I can break a lot more than just your fingers." He said, eyeing my throwing wrist._

"_You wouldn't!" I gasped but, from the look on his face, I could tell that he would. So pushing all images of Don to the back of my mind, I kissed him._

"Clove, why are you clutching my fingers?" Cato's voice snapped me out of my memories. I looked down and realised that I was, in fact, squeezing the blonde boy's fingers.

"Oh, um... Sorry." I mumbled as I flushed bright red and dropped his hand like it was a hot coal.

"Er, that's okay." He looked at me strangely, his eyes asking for an explanation. I shook my head slightly.

"The heart. Aim for the heart." I reminded him. This time when Cato threw the knife, it hit just below where he was aiming.

"Clove?"

"Yeah, Cato?"

"If I can hit the eye, will you tell me what just happened?" He asked. I snorted, knowing that he wouldn't hit it.

"You're on, Ludwig." He smiled slightly, took his stance, and threw the knife at the dummy. It hit where the chin would have been if it were a real person.

"Damn. Close enough though, right?" He winked.

"Nope." I smiled back.

"Clove, I want to know. If there's something bothering you, tell me." Cato said, all traces of jokiness gone.

"Why do you care, Cato?" I asked, sighing. He flushed deep red, but it only lasted a few seconds.

"Because you're my training partner. If someone's hurt or annoyed you, I'll bash his head in. I need you in top form if we end up going to the TTE together."

I guess a death threat is the nicest thing I'm ever going to hear from Cato Ludwig.

By the time Katniss, Gale, Peeta and I had reached the arcade, it was gone six o'clock.

"Crap. It closes in twenty minutes." Johanna Mason, who invited herself, muttered.

"That's okay. We'll go bowling when the arcade closes." I said, and the others nodded.

"Good idea." Katniss smiled. We spent fifteen minutes messing about on the claw machines and driving simulators before walking off down the street and into the bowling alley. We book a lane, put on our bowling shoes and made our way over there.

"Oh, great. Look left. It's the careers." Gale sighed. We all obediently looked to our left. Bowling in the lane next to ours was Glimmer, Marvel, Cato, and their two friends. I found out two weeks ago that they are twins, Alexia and Allan. They were the children of a local fishmonger. Finnick's father owned their rival business on the other side of town.

"How come you call them the careers?" I wondered aloud.

"Because if being bitchy, annoying and arrogant was a job, they'd be professionals. I want to hit them all with a bus." Katniss answered.

"Why can't we go anywhere in this town without running into one of those guys? Yesterday, Glimmer strolled into the bakery and demanded VIP treatment." Peeta complained.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"I said 'Glimmer, this is a fucking bakery. Not a nightclub. Pick up your bread rolls and leave.'" He responded. I burst out laughing and so did the others. Unfortunately, the careers heard us and looked over.

"Clovey!" Glimmer yelled excitedly.

"Glimmey!" I yelled back sarcastically, causing Johanna to give off a curt laugh.

"What brings you here? I thought people with anger management issues weren't allowed to handle bowling balls. You know, just in case they hurt themselves." Glimmer smirked, and her friends laughed. Cato didn't, but he also didn't make any move to stop her next words.

"You know," She said, "I like to research new students. We don't get many, you see. I know what happened…With Johnny. And your brother." She smirked again.

"Shut up." I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. If she told everyone what happened to my brother Joey, nobody would be able to look at me in the same way.

"That's enough, Glimmer." Katniss warned. She was one of the only people I'd ever told. Not even my parents knew. Lydia was the other person who knew what really happened.

"But it _isn't_, Katniss. He was never enough, was he Clove? That's why you killed him."

**DUN DUN DUN! Don't kill me, please. :)**


	4. He's Not So Tough

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Also, a word on Katniss' OOCness. I think that she was hostile and untrusting because of the world she was living in. So with no Panem, no Hunger Games and no starving family to feed, I think she would have grown up more like how I'm portraying her in this story. But that's just my opinion. :)**

"I did _not _kill my own brother!" I screamed, a tear making its way down my cheek. I angrily wiped it away, I would not give Glimmer the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

"If you'd have just been braver, he'd still be alive. It's your fault, Clovey." She sneered. I resisted the urge to snap her neck, and sprinted outside. I ran not caring where I was going. I didn't know the area anyway, so I knew I would end up lost. I stop running when I reached a small children's park. I threw myself down onto one of the swings and buried my face in my hands. I heard footsteps and my head darted up again.

"Clove, want to talk?" Katniss said softly, and sat down on the swing next to me.

"Not really." I answered, fighting back tears. I am Clove Fuhrman. I do not cry.

"That's okay." She said, and we sat in silence until we heard another pair of footsteps. I kept looking at the floor, not really caring who it was. I figured it was probably Peeta and that he'd ran after Katniss.

"Leave, Cato. She doesn't want you here." Katniss said, and I could hear the dangerous calmness in her voice.

"Let her tell me that for herself, then." He sounded slightly pissed, but I didn't if it was because of me or Katniss. Maybe it was Glimmer. _No, Clove. Not gonna happen._

"It's okay, Katniss. Let's hear the bastard out. He better have come bearing gifts, though." I wiped my nose with my sleeve, erasing all evidence of me ever being upset. I eyed him unforgivingly, silently telling him that if he made one wrong move his head would be rolling.

"Fine." Katniss said simply.

"Don't get pissy with me Clove, I didn't do anything wrong." He said, annoyed.

"Not doing anything is just as bad as saying stuff like Glimmer said!" I protested.

"I came after you, didn't I?" Cato said, shocking me into silence. He _had _followed me. He had left Glimmer and his friends behind and came after me. I decided to cut him some slack.

"You're right. What do you want?" I sounded more annoyed than angry now. Katniss' phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out, read her message and rolled her eyes.

"I have to go. Will you be okay if I leave you with dickhead over here?" She asked, serious.

"Yeah, he's not so tough." I replied.

"I am." He mock pouted for the second time that day. Noticing that I was not in the mood for joking around, he went back to being serious. He waited until Katniss had left before saying,

"I'm so, so sorry about Glimmer." He looked at me with such a sincere expression that it made me wonder how on earth a guy like him got stuck with Glimmer. Even if he _was _an ass sometimes.

"It's not your fault." I mumbled, not meeting his eyes.

"No, but I could have done something. Said something. I could have stopped her but I didn't." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Clove. You're my training partner. You have my back and I have yours. We need to be able to trust each other fully."

"I suppose so."

"So can we at least try to be friends?" Cato asked.

"I don't know. Your girlfriend hates me." I said.

"I don't care what Glimmer thinks about you, this is my life!" He dropped to his knees in front of me and gripped my wrists.

"Not my wrists, Cato. Let go of my wrists!" I screamed, pulling my wrists out of his grip.

"What happened? What happened that made you like this?"

"Like what? I'm fine." I lied.

"That's bull. You have this thing about people touching your fingers and your wrists. I saw that Beetee kid go to shake your hand the other day and you completely blanked him." He gently wrapped his hand around my pointer finger and I breathed in deeply. "You can tell me. I used to train with Finnick; you can ask him how loyal I am. I won't tell anyone."

"O-okay. I need to tell someone about it anyway. I just don't want it to cloud people's judgement."

"It won't." Cato promised. I took a deep breath and started to tell him my story.

"_For goodness sake Clove! Just be my girlfriend already!" Johnny yelled. It was raining heavily and he had been accompanying a fifteen year old Clove home from training. She hadn't wanted him to, of course. But she'd had no choice._

"_You're not twelve, Johnny! Get over the fact that I will never like you! I have a boyfriend!" She yelled back. Johnny spun round and was on her like a whirlwind. Before she had a chance to react, he had grabbed her left wrist and snapped it. Clove screamed in pain before letting the tears run down her cheeks. She didn't deserve this. Nobody did. Don overlooked the whole thing because Johnny was his cousin. Clove sprinted the rest of the way home, clutching her wrist. She let herself in but instead of going straight to her room like she normally did after situations like this, she burst into Joey's._

"_Clove? What's wrong?" Clove's seventeen year old brother Joey pulled her into his arms. When he did not get a reply he said, "I hate seeing you cry. What's wrong, Clo?" He squeezed her tighter and Clove let out a squeal. He pulled back from her and caught sight of her mangled wrist._

"_It hurts, Joey." She said, tears streaming down her cheeks._

"_Tell me who did this." He said, dangerously calm. So Clove told him all about Johnny, and the abuse he'd been putting her through. She told him where he lived and after Joey had bandaged her wrist, Clove followed him to Johnny's house._

"_Don't start a fight with him, Joey. He's the same height as you and he's trained. You're not." Clove had tried to stop him, but in the end Joey managed to coax Johnny out of his house. They had a brutal fist fight that went on for about ten minutes. With her wrist in two pieces, all Clove could do was cry and scream as Johnny delivered a brutal punch to Joey's cheek. He stumbled backwards, slipped in pile of blood and smashed his head on the pavement. Clove could still see the blood, smell it and feel the flecks hitting her skin long after they had buried Joey's lifeless body._

"That's not your fault, Clove. Is this Johnny guy in prison?" Cato asked when I was done telling him about my brother.

"No." I sniffed. "Joey started the fight. The police said it was accidental death in self-defence. He got off with six months in prison, and he was forced to move to Pennsylvania."

"Well if he ever comes round again, he can answer to me. You're a friend now."

**Awww, they're slowly solving their issues. :)**


	5. We Did It Together

**I don't own The Hunger Games. Thank you for the reviews, but this story isn't getting as many views as I wanted. :L Any suggestions on how I can make it better?**

Cato and I were swinging on the swings and laughing when Johanna showed up at the park gate.

"Oh, great." Cato muttered sarcastically under his breath. I snorted at him and waved to Johanna.

"Come on, Clove. I'm going to drive you home." She said, not even looking at Cato.

"Cato was going to give me a ride, but okay. I'm sure he wants a few goes on the dinosaur slide, anyway." I smirked as he rolled his eyes and jumped off of the swing. I landed on my feet and my way over to Johanna.

"Bye, Clovey." Cato called out cheerfully. I pulled a throwing knife out of my boot and flung it at Cato, making sure that it hit the chain on his swing. I always kept a knife with me after the incident with Johnny and Joey.

"I said don't call me Clovey." I sighed and walked away with Johanna, not looking back. We got into her blue Ford Fiesta and sped away from the park.

"So, did you tell him whatever he wanted to know?" Johanna asked, her eyes on the road.

"Yes." I answered, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Did he say that whoever fucked you over would have to answer to him because you're his friend?" She asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Yes…How did you know?" Had Johanna bugged me? It wouldn't surprise me.

"Because he used the same shit on me." Her eyes hardened, but she continued to watch the road.

"What do you mean?" I frowned, confused.

"When I was sixteen, I trained with Cato. We were partners for four months. It would have lasted longer, but I couldn't bear to be around him."

"Why?"

"He told me that anybody that messed with me would have to deal with him because I was his partner. His friend."

"What's bad about that?" I asked.

"We dated for about two months until he completely dropped me for Woof's sister Cecilia. The he dropped _her _for Glimmer and they've been together for eight months now. I switched training partners after that because I can't even stand to see his face. I train with Finnick now because Cato's such a _pig_." Johanna wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Maybe he just made some bad decisions. People change, Johanna."

"Not Cato. Cato will never change." We drove the rest of the way to my house in silence. When I first met him, Cato had seemed like the kind of person to do things like that. But know I knew him better, could call him a friend. Maybe he had made some bad mistakes and regretted them. Maybe Johanna was lying. But why would she lie? She has no reason to. Perhaps her past experiences with Cato clouded her judgement. Whatever it is, I'll find out. Even if I have to stab it out of him.

"Thanks for the ride." I said and watched her drive away from the porch. I let myself in, go into my room and throw myself onto my bed. My parents were tight on bills, so the warmth I felt was coming from the fire burning in the fireplace.

"Clove?" Then I notice Lydia sat on her own bed, doing homework.

"Yeah, Lyds?"

"I think it's time to get rid of that box under your bed." She said quietly. I froze. Maybe it was time.

"You're right. But I just can't bring myself to do it." I replied truthfully.

"Then we'll do it together." She came and sat next to my bed and pulled the box out from where I'd tucked it away weeks ago. I slid off of the bed and sat down next to her. I watched as Lydia carefully opened the lid.

"If I'd have been tougher, this wouldn't have happened." I whispered.

"Don't blame yourself, Clove. It wasn't your fault." Lydia had been eleven when Joey died. The first thing to come out of the box was the tiny teddy bear that Joey had given the eleven year old Lydia. Then a black arrow came out. Archery had been Johnny's weapon. Before the move, Clove had been profiling Johnny and trying to figure out his weaknesses in case he ever came back to get her. Lydia took out Clove's first throwing knife, one that Joey had given to her when she was nine and just starting out in training.

"I think I'll hang onto that." I muttered, and tucked it under my pillow. Lydia nodded and pulled the last item out of the box. A bloodied bandage. Lydia gasped and dropped it.

"What is that?" She asked.

"I…I used it to dress my shoulder after Johnny shot me for not going to the Summer Carnival with him. It…It's a reminder to myself. It reminds me what happens when you're not strong enough." Tears I'd been trying to hold back flowed freely down my cheeks and Lydia wrapped her arms around me. I sobbed into my little sister's shirt and when I was done crying, we threw everything in the box into the fireplace. We did it together, the way Joey would have wanted. He loved us both so much.

-Line Break-

I crawled into bed that evening and picked my phone up off of my nightstand. I had one new message.

**Did you get home safely? **

I replied with 'Who is this?'

I got an answer back almost straight away. **The most amazing, strongest, hottest, most wonderful guy on the planet.**

I'm got home fine, Cato. -.-

**So you agree that I'm all of those things? ;)**

Goodnight, retard. **(*AN at bottom)**

**Goodnight, Clovey. :)**

**Meanwhile, in Glimmer's house:**

"Hello? Is that Johnny speaking?... It is? I'm Glimmer. It's nice to be talking to you…No, I'm not a telephone saleswoman. I'm Clove's friend!...Yes, I know where she is. She's been causing a bit of trouble for me!...Oh that's funny!...Berkeley Springs…I'm not sure exactly where she lives but she goes to Mockingjay High…You'll be down here as soon as you can? That's perfect!...You'll be here in three days?...Great! See you then, Johnny!"

**Sorry that this chapter isn't as long as the others! Leave a review and tell me your choice words for Glimmer right now. ;)**


	6. I'll Kick His Ass

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's CATO!**

**Cato's POV:**

I woke up at 10:00am like I do every Saturday. I have a busy schedule, but I decided to take it easy today. I checked my phone for messages, and found three from Glimmer.

_Hey Cato, I miss you. :) _

I deleted the first message. I'd seen her yesterday, for God's sake.

_Are you sleeping? Sorry, babe. ;) _

I deleted it, sighing. Glimmer was really clingy. I'd been thinking about breaking up with her for a while now, but I already had a bad reputation. This would only make things worse. If I broke up with one of the prettiest girls in the school, people would start spreading rumours. They'd just say I was being a womaniser again, going from Johanna to Cecilia, to Glimmer to Clove. But it wouldn't be like that with Clove. I'd stay with her for as long as she wanted me. She's not like any of the other girls I've dated, except for maybe Johanna or Enobaria. She's different and that's what's special about her. But I couldn't just ask her on a date, could I? She literally just poured her heart out to me yesterday about how she was abused by the last guy who liked and how her brother died because of it. I decided to take my time with Clove. I checked my last message from Glimmer.

_Meet me at the bandstand at 11? :)_

**Sure. **I replied. This would be the perfect time to break up with her. I got changed, grabbed a small croissant from a basket on the table in the kitchen and started to walk to the bandstand. Berkeley Springs is quite small, so when people want to meet up with someone they just invite them down to the bandstand. It's like in a larger town or city there might be a park or youth club where everyone hangs out, but for us it's the bandstand. When I get there, I see that Marvel is stood on the stairs with his girlfriend Cashmere. They've been together for about three months and I would say that they're cute together, but that's not very manly.

"Cato! Over here!" I hear Glimmer shout, then I hear her annoying giggle. At one point I thought it was one of best features, but not anymore. Not now that I've met Clove and heard a _real _laugh. I make my way over to Glimmer, who is stood in the shade underneath a huge Willow tree that's older than me.

"Hey, Glim." I say, and she giggles again and kisses me softly. Once I felt passion in all of our kisses, but now there's just nothing.

"Heya." She smiles up at me.

"I tell you something…" I look away, not able to meet her gaze. Everybody says that I'm heartless, but it's not true. I don't want to break Glimmer's heart.

"Ohmigod Cato! I LOVE YOU TOO!" She squeals and hugs me. I freeze, shocked. I've had five fairly serious girlfriends and quite a few non-serious ones, but I've never experienced love. I just know that I don't love Glimmer.

"That's not it Glim." I say, and uncomfortably pry her arms away from my neck. "I think we should break up."

"Oh Cato, you're so funny!" When she noticed that I wasn't joking, anger flashed in her eyes. "It's Clove, isn't it?" She hissed.

"I…Yes." I said honestly. "It is. But we can still be friends" I turned and walked away from her, from our relationship.

**Clove's POV:**

I am awoken at half past twelve to the sound of the doorbell. Pissed, I straightened out my pyjama shirt and ran silently over the door, trying not to wake up Lydia. I sighed and pulled the door open.

"What?" I asked when I saw Cato standing on the porch. He was wearing his training clothes, which I guessed to be a bad thing.

"We're going running. Go get changed." He grinned. I rolled my eyes at him and pulled the door open wider. I pointed to the kitchen and he took a seat at the breakfast bar.

"Help yourself." I said, and he took an apple out of the fruit basket. I went back into my room and rooted around in my closet for something to wear.

"Clove?" I looked over at Lydia. Sat up in her bed, wearing her pyjamas, she looked about ten. She also looked scared.

"Who is that boy? He's _huge_." She asked.

"Cato, he's my training partner." I replied.

"Is he…Alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't hurt you, does he?" Lydia looked really afraid. She worries about me when I start hanging out with guys I train with.

"I promise. He doesn't. He wouldn't. I know he looks scary, but he's a sweetie. I promise." I reassured her.

"If he hurts you, I'll kick his ass." She said. I laughed, turned away from her, and pulled on a strappy shirt and jogging trousers.

"See you later, Lyds." I smiled fondly and my sister and re-joined Cato in the kitchen.

"Ready, Clovey?" He asked, smiling.

"Yes, dick brain." I laughed at his mock-frustrated expression.

"Race you to the playing fields!" He yelled, and sped out of the house. I sprinted after him, laughing. We ran down lane and roadsides for about twenty minutes until it happened. Cato was about a foot behind me, and I didn't see the rock until I tripped over and slammed head first onto the pavement. The world faded into black nothingness, and the last thing I saw was the petrified look on Cato's face.


	7. Marla

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Thank you for the reviews. :)**

**Cato:**

I sat next to Clove, waiting for her to wake up. I had already been waiting for five hours, but I wasn't going to leave. I needed to stay with Clove. If she had permanent damage, I could never forgive myself. The door flew open and a girl who looked just like Clove burst it. I stood up to offer her my seat.

"You hurt my sister!" She screamed and lunged at me. She couldn't have been older than thirteen, but she had sharp nails. She clawed at my face and I felt my eye swell shut.

"Hey! I would never hurt your sister!" I yelled back, managing to grab hold of her arm. She burst into tears and stopped trying to kill me.

"She said the same thing, but now look at her!" She pulled out of my grip, still crying.

"Clove tripped, okay? I blame myself, but I didn't lay a finger on her. I wouldn't. I _couldn't_." I promised her. "I'm Cato."

"I know." She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I'm Lydia, Clove's sister."

"Why don't you go and clean yourself up in the bathroom, Lydia?" I said softly. I didn't even know I was capable of speaking softly.

"O-okay. Make sure nothing happens to her?" She sniffed again.

"Of course." I replied and watched her walk away down the hall. I felt a strange surge of protectiveness. That girl was Clove's sister and I'd make sure nothing happened to her. I liked Clove a lot, and keeping her sister safe was the least I could do.

**Clove:**

I awoke to the sounds of a heart monitor, heels clicking down a hallway and hospital bed wheels. A boy was sat on a plastic chair next to my hospital bed. His familiar blonde head was rested in his hands and was muttering something to himself.

"Cato?" My voice cracked slightly.

"Clove!" He raised his head. "You're awake!"

"Looks like it. How long was I out?" I asked. He thinks for a moment and checks the clock on the wall.

"About five hours. Your parents have been in, but they had to leave. Work stuff, I think they said. Your sister's in the bathroom."

"What happened?"

Cato frowned and looked away from me. "I'm so sorry Clove, it's all my fault. I dragged you out of your house and then told you to race me. You tripped on a rock and knocked yourself unconscious."

"Cato that is _not _your fault." I told him, with a serious look on my face. "I tripped, it's not like you pushed me."

"I still blame myself." Cato gripped one of my hands with his and I felt myself blush. "But it made me realise something, Clovey."

"What?" My voice was barely a whisper as he leaned in closer to me.

"I decided to wait until your memories weren't hurting you as much. But life's short, and I thought you were going to die today. So…" Then he kissed me. Would it be cheesy if I said it was like fireworks? It was nothing like when Don had kissed me all those times before. This was more special.

"What would you do…" He said when he pulled away. "If I asked you on a date?"

"I would say-"

"Screw it." He cut me off. "I'm just going to ask. Clovey, will you go on a date with me next Saturday?"

"Yes I will." He stroked my fingers and gave me a quick peck on the lips.

"CLOVE YOU'RE AWAKE!" Lydia burst into the room and dived on top of me.

"Oof!" Was the noise I made.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA DIE!"

"Well I'm definitely alive, so could you get off of me please?" I asked, but I couldn't help but laugh.

"No." Came her stubborn reply.

"Yes." I said back. Cato rolled his eyes and lifted her off of me.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"Anything for you, Clovey." He grinned.

"It's _Clove_." I groaned. Lydia laughed and Cato set her down on the ground again. The door opened again, and a middle aged man walked in.

"Hello Clove, I'm Doctor Short. You seem to be fine, but we're going to keep you in overnight just in case." He gave me a warm smile before setting down some scans on the table next to me.

"Oh, okay. Will I be alright for school on Monday?" I asked, eager to train.

"Yes. But take it easy."

"Thank you!" I said as he smiled again and left the room.

"I should go. Mom and dad will want to know that you've woken up. Will you be okay alone tonight?" Lydia asked, biting her lip.

"She won't me alone. I'll stay with her." Cato reassured her. Lydia smiled at him and waved goodbye before leaving the room.

"Are your parents okay with you staying?"

"Yeah, I texted my mom. This is a phone zone, right?" I nodded. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, his phone started to ring.

"Hello?...Sorry, I don't know a Marla…" Cato trailed off and I gestured for him to give me the phone.

"Marla!" I yelled down the phone.

"Clove, I heard what happened! Are you okay?" Marla and I had been best friends since we were ten. We did everything together, and she was the one I missed the most from Ohio. I missed her even more than I mossed Don.

"I'm fine!"

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

"Oooh, guess what! I'm coming to visit you a week after the TTE!"

"Yay, I miss you!" Marla always managed to bring out the crazy in me.

"I know, I miss you too! But I have to go now, kay?" She hung up before I got the chance to say goodbye.

"Did she just hang up on you?" Cato asked.

"Yeah, she does it to everyone." I couldn't help but grin. I hadn't spoken to Marla in far too long.

"How did she get my number?"

"You probably don't want to know. She's crazy." I laughed at his scared expression.

"I'm going to go get some coffee." He stroked my hair off of my forehead. "Try to get some sleep."

"Okay, Mom." I rolled my eyes. He grinned as he left and closed the door soundlessly. I pulled the sheets up further over me and started to drift off to sleep, the warmth of Cato's touch still on my forehead.

**So you still don't know much about Don...I hope you Clato lovers like this chapter. :) Peace, love and cookies to all reviewers! **


	8. You Know What I Mean

**So there's a bit of a TIME JUMP this chapter. :) The last chapter was on a weekend and this one is on the Friday after. I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Cloves dress link, remove all spaces: images . sugarscape userfiles / image / editors / Mhairi / APRIL2010 / summerdresses / AZZ88449BLUE _ LARGE . jpg **

"I can't believe you're going on a date with Cato tomorrow. Do you know how many girls would kill you to take your place?" Katniss and I were walking to English, our first lesson of the day.

"You mean the ones he hasn't already been on dates with?" I joked, rolling my eyes.

"Hey, he's not as a big a man whore as Marvel. Before he got with Cashmere, Marvel would bring a new girl back to his house every week. Cato only had one every, like, month." She grinned.

"Whatever you say Katniss. And it's really not that big a deal that I'm going on a date with him."

"You have his number, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because half of the girls in this school would punch you just to get it."

"We might decide that we just want to be friends."

"I, personally, don't see the attraction. I mean, yeah, he's hot. But that's not all that matters." She carried on speaking as if I had never spoken.

"You're too hooked on Peeta to notice anyone else." I winked at her and she frowned back, causing me to laugh.

"Shut up, Clove." We reached our English room and I took my seat next to Cato.

"Hey, Clovey." Cato smiled and waggled his fingers at me. His other hand rested on the table next to me. I dropped my English book onto it, and he yelped. "What was that for?!"

"I told you. My name is _Clove_." I sat down and looked away from him.

"Awww, Clovey. Don't be mad." I could hear the smirk in his voice even if I wasn't facing him.

"Give me on good reason." I turned around and glared at him. I wasn't _really _mad, but Cato looked pretty scared.

"Because this face is too perfect to be bashed in by you?" He gestured to his face and pulled a cross-eyed face. I couldn't help it, I laughed. Loudly. The teacher shot me a glare, but it was nothing compared to the glare that Glimmer was giving me.

"Ready for this?"

"I'm ready." Katniss and I ran out of the changing rooms and down to the running track. She was trying out for the endurance sprint team and I was trying out for long distance running. When we reached the track Madge, Annie and Haymitch were trying out for the sprint as well, so I left Katniss with them and made my way over to the group of people stretching and preparing for the race. The top six people would qualify for the team and the race in two weeks. I stood next to Finnick and did a few leg stretches until someone tickled my ankle from behind. I let out a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a scream and kicked at my assaulter. I heard a male voice scream and instantly knew who it was.

"Cato!" I frowned. "What the hell did you thing you were doing?" He was bent over; I had kicked him just below the stomach. That kind of area…

"Tickling…You…" He groaned.

"Never, _ever _tickle my legs!" I yelled at him. When he stood up straight again, he was grinning.

"Is Clovey ticklish?"

"…No…" I lied. He smirked and went to tickle me again, but I grabbed his arm.

"Tickle me again, and I swear I will knock that smirk right off of your face." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good boy." I patted his head. The coach blew her whistle and we started running the 1500 metre race. Finnick, Cato and I stayed near the back, saving our energy for the final push. When we reached the 1000 mark, we started sprinting and pushed to the front of the group. The race ended with Finnick in first place, Cato in second, me in third, Enobaria in fourth, Wiress in fifth and Marvel in sixth. I smiled to myself as I crossed the finish line. My brother also loved running, and I wanted to make him proud. _Look at me now, Joey. Are you proud? I hope so._

**Saturday, 7:00pm:**

I checked myself in the mirror one last time before turning to Lydia.

"How do I look?" I ran my hands down the sides of Summer dress, flattening it down slightly.

"For the fifth time Clove, you look fine." My sister rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's just…"

"I never thought you were one to get _nervous _Clove." Lydia smirked at me.

"I'm not nervous!"

"Do you feel shaky?"

"A little…"

"Got butterflies?"

"A few…

"Sweaty palms?"

"Maybe…"

"You, my friend, are nervous." She grinned again. "It's just _Cato_. Calm down." Cato came round on Wednesday afternoon while I was out with Katniss and he had hung out with Lydia. She loved him, I guess she never really knew Joey well and Cato was the closest thing she could find. I had come back home to find him giving her a piggy back in the front garden. She had been laughing and looked genuinely happy, which is good because if she hated Cato I never would have agreed to go on a date with him.

"Exactly, Lyds. It's just Cato." So why did I feel so…Odd? I liked him, sure. Who wouldn't? But no guy had been able to make me feel _nervous _before. The doorbell rang, causing me to jump. Lydia ran into the hallway, barefoot, and pulled the door open. I followed her and smiled when I saw Cato leaning against the doorframe holding a daisy.

"I got this for you." He smiled at me and handed me the daisy.

"Thanks. It's pretty." I put it in the vase of flowers that stood on a table in our hallway.

"Oh, please. Cato, you picked that from our garden." Lydia stuck her tongue out.

"Evil child." Cato replied and stuck his tongue out even further.

"If you two are done being five year olds," I stepped outside. "I'd like to leave?"

"Sure, Clovey." Cato ignored my glare and laced his fingers through mine. He pulled me to his car as Lydia shut the door.

"Here you go." He opened the door for me. I blushed slightly and got into the passenger's seat.

"So where are we going?" I asked as he got into the driver's side, buckled his seatbelt, and started the engine.

"Bob's Diner." He replied. We talked and laughed for the twenty minute drive. When we arrived, we were seated and I picked up a menu. Cato did the same. We heard a waitress approaching, but we didn't look up.

"Hi, I'll be your waitress tonight." The waitress said, angrily. Only when I glanced up did I realise why.

"Glimmer? What the fuck are _you _doing here?" I asked.

"I work here." She said through gritted teeth.

"I swear, I didn't know." Cato said, looking as shocked as I did. Glimmer got a _job_? She was probably saving up for a boob job or something.

"That's okay. I'll have a burger, fries and Seven Up please."

"I'll take a cheeseburger, double fries and a Coke. Thanks." We handed Glimmer our menus and when she left Cato said,

"I'm so glad you're not one of those girls that order a side salad and diet water."

"No way." I grinned. "And there's no such thing as diet water."

"Try telling them that." He rolled his eyes and I laughed.

"I like your laugh." Cato smiled at me, and I blushed again.

"Thanks. I like your…Muscles." I said, not sure of what to say. I'm terrible with compliments.

"I like them too." He flexed his arms and threw my napkin at him.

"You'll scare the little kids." I said. He laughed and threw my napkin back. Glimmer brought us our meals and drinks, and we dug in. Cato finished when I still had half a plate left and ordered and ice-cream sundae.

"How are you not fat? You eat like a trucker." I pointed out.

"My amazing training skills, that's how."

"Whatever." When I finished my meal, I stuck my finger in his ice cream.

"Naughty." He slapped my hand away and poured the rest of the melting ice cream down his throat.

"Come on. Your sister will kill me if you're not home soon." Cato out down thirty dollars on the table and walked out to his car. As we pulled away, I could see Glimmer glaring at me from the Diner window.

"I had fun tonight. I hope we can do this again." I said. We were stood in the porch and I had my key in my hand.

"Me too. I was actually wondering if you wanted us to be a bit more…Serious." I could have sworn I saw him blush a light shade of pink as he looked at the floor, but it faded.

"What do you mean?" I teased.

"You know what I mean, Clove."

"But I want to hear you say it." I smiled innocently. He sighed and pressed his lips to mine. I didn't hesitate in kissing him back. When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against mine.

"So that's a yes?"

"I suppose so." I stepped away from him and put the key in the lock.

"Bye, Clovey." He smirked and walked back to his car.

"Bye, Cato." I sighed and let myself into my house.

"THAT WAS SO CUTE!" Needless to say, I heard Lydia before I saw her.

**That wasn't very clear, so to you any of you who didn't get it- THEY ARE OFFICIALLY TOGETHER NOW. YAY. I was going to wait longer, but I didn't want to keep them apart. :)**


	9. Strangely Enjoyable

**Thank you for the reviews and the advice, I really appreciate it. :) I don't own The Hunger Games.**

**Two Weeks Later:**

At 2:00pm Lydia and I left the house to go and meet some others at the Bandstand. Cato, Marvel, Cashmere, Katniss, Peeta, Madge, Annie, Finnick, Johanna, Thresh and Gale would be there. Gale's fourteen year brother Rory would be there with Prim for about en minutes, and his other thirteen year old brother Vick would be there for the same amount of time. From the way Lydia talked about him, it was obvious that she liked him. Prim, Rue, Rory, Vick and Lydia were meeting up and then going to the cinema, but the others and I were staying there. We were the first to arrive.

"I gotta pee!" Lydia yelled and ran off to the toilets. I laughed to myself and rolled my eyes at her back. I leaned against a tree and sighed.

"Hello, Clove. Sorry I wasn't here sooner; my trip got delayed a few weeks." My blood ran cold and I froze.

"J-Johnny?" I stuttered. He grinned an evil grin and leaned over me. He rested his hands just above my shoulders and brought his face down so it was less than eight inches away from mine.

"Miss me? I missed _you_. You were always my favourite little play toy." He smiled, looking even more like a phsyco than the last time I saw him more than two years ago.

"You have no right to be here." I whispered, closing my eyes.

"Now don't get mad with me, Clove. Your brother slipped, remember?"

"You _killed _him."

"No, you did. I wouldn't have broken your wrist if you had done what I wanted." He inched his face closer to mine. I was still too frozen to move. Just before his lips made contact with mine, he was pulled backwards. An angry looking Cato stood in front of me, holding him Johnny by the collar.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing with my girlfriend?" He shouted. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Lydia coming out of the bathrooms. When she saw Johnny her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes widened in fear.

"_Your _girlfriend? She was mine first, dick!" He sneered.

"Clove, who is this prick?" Cato asked me.

"I-it's…Johnny." My voice was shaky. This boy had killed my brother, broken my fingers and wrist. He had given be numerous cuts, scrapes and black eyes. He had even shot an arrow into my shoulder once.

"The one who hurt you?"

"Yes." Anger was no longer the right word for the look on Cato's face. He pulled back his fist and punched Johnny in the jaw. Johnny wriggled out of Cato's grip and kicked him in the stomach.

"Cato, be careful!" I screamed as Johnny punched him in the eye. Cato responded by elbowing him in the nose. I heard a crunch and knew that Cato had broken it. I couldn't help but feeling like Johnny deserved that and more. Cato shoved him to the floor. He had about ten inches over Johnny and about twenty pounds of muscle more than him. He jumped on top of my old abuser and repeatedly punched him in the stomach. When he had had enough, he punched him the temple and knocked him unconscious. He stood up and wiped the blood from his eye.

"Well, that was strangely enjoyable."

"Oh my God." Was all I could say. I all but leaped into his arms.

"It's okay, Clove. He won't hurt you. I promise." He said, stroking my hair. I pulled out of his embrace and he kissed me.

"Thank you." I smiled weakly.

"Anything for you, Clovey." It amazed me how Cato could make me feel better no matter what the situation.

"Clove!" Lydia sprinted towards me, tears streaming down her cheeks. I was scared of Johnny, but she was petrified. I hugged her tightly when she reached me and I burst into tears of my own when I felt her sobbing into my shoulder. After about ten minutes her tears dried up and so did mine. She said goodbye and went off to meet her friends. I knew that we would be talking about this later.

"Are you okay now?" Cato asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah. Come on, the others are over there." I managed a smile. Nobody dared ask me about my red eyes.

-Line Break-

"Clove, I thought he was out of our lives for good." Lydia said to me when Cato left the room. He had stayed for dinner and we were hanging out in the living room.

"We'll talk about this when Cato comes back. He needs to know…More." I took a deep breath and when Cato returned I started to explain things.

"Cato, you should know exactly how much pain Johnny caused me and Lydia." I glanced at him and saw that he was listening intently. "He broke my wrist, four of my fingers, gave me more black eyes than I thought possible to give someone and shot me with an arrow once. He k-killed Joey. He threatened Lydia. He even punched her once, but I agreed to give him a neck massage before he could seriously hurt her. I hated the pain, but I couldn't stand it when he turned on Lydia. Two days after he punched her… the incident happened." By the time I was finished speaking, his ears were almost steaming.

"I promise you, he wouldn't get near you again. Either of you." He said.

"Thank you. But I think I need to face him."

"By 'face him', you better mean 'kick his ass'." Lydia frowned. I blinked at her, confused.

"Well, what else would I mean? Cato roughed him up pretty good, but he's not gonna know what's hit him when _I _go for him."

And just like that, it was gone. The pain, sadness and fear had been replaced by something else. When I heard his name I didn't want to run and scream and cry. I wanted to have my revenge. I wanted to show him what happens when you mess with Clove Fuhrman's family.


	10. Ah Hell

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

Lydia jumped on me the next morning, waking me up.

"CLOVE! WE HAVE MAIL!" She shrieked.

"Lydia, get off of me! It's just mail!"

"IT'S FROM CATO AND HE GOT ME A SLINGSHOT."

"Why did he get you a slingshot?" I asked, confused.

"SO I CAN KICK JOHNNY'S ASS!" Today was the day that I was going to confront Johnny and then rough him up a little. Lydia wanted to help me, but there was no way I was letting her anyway near him. I told her that if she miraculously managed to learn how to use a long distance weapon in the nine hours I'd be asleep for, she could help me. So Cato had sent her a slingshot.

"I CAN HIT HIM WITH A ROCK!" She looked so excited to be about to hurt Johnny. He had changed her life in a bad way before she was even a teenager.

"We'd better get dressed, then." I grin. I am looking forward to showing Johnny what I was made of. Lydia squealed and chucked me an envelope before running off to the bathroom. I opened it; it was a letter from Cato.

_Dear Clove,_

_Don't do anything stupid. I don't want you to get hurt. I would come with you to talk to Johnny, but my parents aren't letting me leave the house today, my cousin Lyme is visiting. I know you can handle yourself, but that doesn't mean I won't worry. Good luck Clovey._

_Cato_

_P.S: If you value your life, don't let Lydia use that slingshot inside._

I folded the letter in half and slipped it under my pillow before going to rummage through my drawers for something to wear.

-Line Break-

Finding Johnny wasn't hard. He was sat on a bench opposite the Bandstand. It was early morning, 9:00am, so there wasn't a single person around. As I approached him, I started to expect tumble weeds to drift past. He was looking at his phone so he didn't see me coming. Lydia was perched in a nearby tree, so I signalled to her. She let a rock fly from her slingshot, nailing him in the forehead. His head shot up. When he saw me, he sneered.

"Ah, Clove. See what your little boyfriend did to me?" He pointed at his face and stood. He had two black eyes and was missing a few teeth. His nose was lumpy and bruised. He walked towards me. "Want to kiss it better?"

"No. You can't get to me now, Johnny. Not now. Not ever again." I took a deep breath and glared at him.

"Says who?" He still saw me as the fearful little fifteen year old girl from two years ago. He didn't know how much I'd changed.

"Says _me_. You scared the shit out of me for years. You abused me. You killed my brother. You threatened my sister. Then you had the nerve to ruin my fresh start here. How _dare _you? I don't fear you anymore, Johnny! I just hate you!" I was yelling by the time I finished my speech. He swung at me, and I did what I hadn't had the courage to do before. I dodged. He looked at me with shock.

"I suppose you really are a different person now. Where did my little Clovey go?"

"You can't call me that. Only one person can call me that, and you're nothing like him." He was too busy glaring at me to jump out the way when I swung my own punch at him. I socked him right in one of his bruised eyes. He screamed in pain and went for my throat. He squeezed and I probably turned blue after a while. I raked my nails down his face and he let his down. I punched him again, this time in his broken nose and floored him. We rolled around on the ground for a while. He yanked my hair and tears of anger sprung to my eyes. He pinned me down and grinned.

"I really don't want to hurt my favourite play toy…But I will." A crazy look appeared in his eyes and he pulled out a knife from his sleeve. My eyes wandered to Lydia's tree. She wasn't there. She was already less than five metres away from me and Johnny. Just as he was about to bring the knife down into my eye when she ran straight into him, knocking the both of them to the floor. He recovered quickly and threw the knife at her. We both screamed as the knife plunged into her shoulder. I pulled my own knife out of my boot and ran at Johnny. I slashed at his face, cutting him from his left eye down to the corner of his lips.

"Bitch!" He shouted. He went for my throat again, but I looked at my sister crumpled on the ground and felt a surge of new energy. I elbowed him in the temple, and he was knocked unconscious for the second time in two days.

"Lydia!" I rushed over to her.

"I…Still think…I…should be able to…Call you…Clovey." She muttered before falling unconscious. I pulled out my phone. I couldn't call an ambulance, we'd only get arrested or something. So I found myself pressing 1, my speed dial number for Cato.

"Clove, are you okay?" He sounded funny on the phone, but this was no time for laughing.

"I'm fine. But Lydia…Could you come to the Bandstand? It's really urgent, Lydia's hurt."

"I'll be there in two minutes." He hung up on me and I went to kneel by Lydia's side. She had pulled out the knife, so I pressed my hands against her wound. I had to apply pressure to slow down the blood flow. A minute and a half later, Cato came running down the path towards me.

"What's wrong with…Ah, hell." He looked at the two bodies. He scooped Lydia up, no questions asked, and turned to me.

"Think you can drag him to my car?" I nodded and grabbed Johnny under the shoulders. We ran to Cato's car. We must have looked really suspicious. He was carrying a bleeding girl and I was dragging an unconscious boy that had about five inches on me. When we reached Cato's car, I sat in the back with part of Cato's shirt pressed to Lydia's shoulder. We buckled Johnny into the passenger seat so that it looked like he was just sleeping and not unconscious.

"Can we go back to yours?" Cato asked, looking at me in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, my parents are out. Think you can stich her up?" I wouldn't be able to do it. I couldn't sew up a wound that my sister had because of _me_.

"Yeah. She'll be okay, Clove. I promise. And I don't break my promises."


	11. You Two Are Weird

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**4 Weeks Later:**

The TTE is in two weeks and the official selection is today. Cato and I have trained like crazy, and we are pretty sure that we'll be chosen. Going to New York with Cato will be great. We've been together for just over a month now, six weeks. Lydia can take her bandage off in a week. Something very interesting happened the day that she got stabbed in the shoulder.

"_What are we going to do, Cato? Look at her! She's half-dead!" I paced around the kitchen, running my hands over my hair._

"_Well, I'm going to stich her up. Then I'm going to bandage her shoulder and carry her upstairs. Trust me Clove, it's not as bad as it looks." He reassured me._

"_Okay." I said and stopped pacing. I joined him at the table. "I trust you." _

"_Good." He barely looked up at me; he was threading a piece of surgical thread through a sterile needle. Lydia was laid on the table, unconscious, with a cloth pressed to her shoulder wound. Cato removed the cloth and tossed it to me. I threw it in the trash and watched him as he delicately stitched Lydia up. She had around twenty seven stitches in total. I'm glad I didn't have to do it because if I had it would have looked like a monkey did it. I passed Cato a roll of bandage and he wrapped it around Lydia's shoulder. He cut the end and tucked it in._

"_Can you get the door for me, Clovey? Then we'll deal with Johnny." Cato asked. I nodded and opened the door as he picked my sister up. I opened the door to the room I shared with her as well and he put her in her bed. I tucked the covers up over her and we made our way back into the kitchen. Johnny had been slumped on a chair out cold when we left the room, but he was awake now._

"_Who are you? Where am I?" He asked, confused._

"_I…" I was speechless. He didn't remember me. He wouldn't hurt me ever again, because he had no clue who I was._

"_You're a door-to-door salesman." Cato responded. "You're from Pennsylvania, but you came down to West Virginia to try and sale your new range of…Irons."_

"_So how did I end up here?" He asked._

"_You slipped when you knocked on the door and hit your head. You're fine now but you should probably leave. You're flight back home is in about three hours." I lied._

"_Umm…Okay…" I showed him to the door and waved goodbye. When I re-joined Cato in the kitchen, we laughed together._

"_Did you see his face?" I asked between laughs. _

"_Yeah. He's gone now, Clovey. Gone for good." He smiled and pressed his lips to my forehead. _

Cato stayed with me that night. When I fell asleep he watched over Lydia for me. I haven't been with him for very long. But he's been really good to me. I wonder why everyone thinks he's such a jerk and a user.

"Ready?" Katniss approached me when we were out of our geography class at the end of the day.

"Yeah. Are you?" I knew that Katniss was hoping that I got into the TTE. The twelve best schools were submitting a girl and a boy between the ages of twelve and eighteen. There was a tournament at the very end of our training, The contestants from eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve were usually knocked out of the final tournament in the first stage.

We gathered in the gym to hear the instructors' decision. There was about twenty boys and fifteen girls going for the positions.

"First of all, we'd like to thank everyone for trying so hard to gain a spot in the TTE. But we can only award two. One for the males and one for the females." Mr Gun explained.

"So, our final choices are..." The instructor that taught us axe throwing cut in. "Cato Ludwig and Clove Fuhrman!"

I breathed a sigh of relief as annoyed applause thundered around the gym. We made our way outside. Glimmer bumped me with her shoulder as I walked through the door.

"This isn't over, Clove." She muttered as she walked away. I rolled my eyes at her retreating figure.

"Congratulations, Ms Clove." Cato said from behind me. He slipped his left hand into my right one.

"Same to you, Mr Cato." I smiled.

"You two are so strange." Katniss said. "Hey, are you coming back to the bakery?"

"Nah." I said. "We'll let you have some time alone with Peeta." I winked and Cato and I walked away. Peeta and Katniss had been together for about a week now. I hadn't seen her so happy since she got with Gale last year. They had broken up because Katniss went to the TTE last year with Peeta and the organisers had forced them to pretend to be a couple for good publicity. It was filmed live and I think the pressure of having to hide their relationship finally got to Gale and they broke up. They were still best friends, but things weren't the same. Eventually, Katniss fell for Peeta but it took him a while.

"Earth to Clove. Do you read me?" Cato was looking at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Sorry. I was thinking. Are you coming back to mine?"

"Actually, I got a text from Marvel asking to meet at the Bandstand. Up for it?"

"Sure." We got into our separate cars and drove to the Bandstand. Lydia was going back to Prim's to work on a school project. At least, that's what she told me. When I reached the Bandstand I found that she wasn't actually with Prim. My almost fourteen year old sister was sat on a bench, making out with Vick Hawthorne.

"Oh my God." I whispered. Cato got out of his car and walked over to me. I pointed at them and his eyes widened.

"We can have some fun with this." He grinned evilly. We snuck up on them and Cato mouth _three, two, one! _We both sang at the top of our voices.

"AND I-E-I-E-I WILL ALWAYS LOOOOVE YOUUU!" Vick and Lydia sprung apart and screamed. I think I fell over, I was laughing so hard.

"That was not cool, Clove!" Lydia frowned at me when I finally stopped laughing. Cato extended a hand and pulled me up.

"What are your intentions, young man?" Cato asked, looking seriously. I knew he was messing around, but Vick blushed bright red and so did Lydia.

"Well…Um…" He had no idea what to say.

"I will get you two back for this, I swear." Lydia glared at us.

"Oh, shit." Cato muttered. Lydia was _scary_.

"HEY, CLOVE! OVER HERE!" I heard someone yell from behind me. I spun around and broke into a grin.

"Marla!"


	12. Revenge Is Sweet

**I got a review asking who Marla is…Marla is Clove's old best friend from Ohio. :) IMPORTANT: I know I said that Don and Johnny were cousins, but I have changed my mind. They're just good friends. :) I don't own The Hunger Games.**

I woke up to my phone ringing. I answered, yawning.

"You better had a good reason for calling, Cato. It's 7:00am!" I whispered down the phone. Lydia was still asleep, and so was Marla. She had slept round my house last night after we came back from the Bandstand. She told me that she and her brother were staying at her cousin's house in the next town over for four weeks. We'd have two weeks together before the TTE and then just over a week after that, seeing as the TTE lasts for five days. Her trip had been pushed forward because her mom was ill. I wasn't looking forward to seeing her brother Don again. But I guess the answer to my earlier question was yes, I _would _see him again.

"I wanted to catch you before school. Go on your Facebook. Now. There's something you should see." He sounded pretty annoyed.

"Fine." I said, rolling my eyes. "I'll call you back in a minute." I turned my laptop on and logged onto Facebook. There was a video at the top of the page labelled 'CATO AND CLOVE!' I looked for who the up-loader was. Lydia. This couldn't be good. I pressed play and inwardly groaned when I watched it. The video was of me and Cato sat on the couch in my living room, making out. It lasted for about twenty minutes. I had no problem with people knowing about me and Cato, but this was a bit far. I snapped my laptop shut.

"LYDIA FUHRMAN!" I yelled, waking her but not Marla. Marla could sleep through World War Three if she wanted too. I threw a pillow at my sister's head.

"Clove! What was that for?!" She yelled back.

"That video?" I glared at her, and she burst out laughing.

"Revenge is sweet, Clove. Revenge is _sweet_." She grinned, picked up the clothes she was going to wear to school and left the room before I could hurl a knife at her nose. I pressed the 1 button on my phone and Cato answered on the third ring.

"Seen it?" He asked.

"Yes." I groaned.

"It could be worse, I guess."

"My parents are going to see that." I rested my forehead on my hand.

"Aww, Clovey." I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"It's you that they'll be chasing with a pitchfork, Cato!"

"Oh…Um, oops?"

"I have to go. Oh, and Cato?"

"Yeah?"

"My car ran out of gas last night, I was meant to get my dad to refill it before he went to work but he forgot. Can I get a ride?"

"Of course. Bye, Clovey."

"Thanks. See you soon." I pressed the end call button and threw my phone down onto my bed next to me. I changed into my clothes and then decided to wake Marla. A simple tap on the shoulder couldn't wake her, so I had to take things to the extreme. I dived on her and she screamed as she woke up.

"Clove, that's not cool!" She shoved me off of her and I stood up, grinning.

"I'm gonna be leaving in a few. Let yourself out whenever; just remember to lock the door." I told her.

"But your car broke down?"

"I'm getting a lift with Cato." I told her and she squealed.

"IWANNAMEETHIM!" She said, fastly. Marla was my best friend, but we were almost nothing alike. She was a bit of a girly girl and I was just…Me.

"Fine, if you really want to. But don't scare him away." I frowned.

"Okay!" She let out a tiny scream when we heard a knock on the door.

"LYDIA, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" I yelled up the stairs as I opened the door.

"YOUMUSTBECATO!" Marla screamed, clapping her hands at the same time. I resisted the urge to facepalm.

"You met me yesterday…" He said.

"Yeah, but only for like ten minutes! Clove and I went back to hers and you stayed at the Bandstand!"

"We'll be leaving now." I said. Lydia joined us at the door.

"Bye Clove!"

"Bye, Marla." I sighed.

"Well, she seems a bit of a handful." Cato smirked as we got in the car. My stomach rumbled and I clutched it. I hadn't had time for breakfast this morning.

"Yeah, she is." I answered honestly.

"You didn't eat again, did you? Either of you?" He asked, one eyebrow raised.

"No, mom."

"Clove, we have intense training today. I got you this." He handed me a chocolate croissant from Peeta's family-run bakery.

"Thanks." I smiled as he tossed Lydia a strawberry doughnut and pulled out of the driveway.

"Spill jam in my car kid and you're dead." Cato said, looking at Lydia through the rear view mirror. She rolled her eyes at him and stuck her tongue out. We reached the school and went to join our friends before we went off to homeroom.

"Clove!" Katniss yelled, sounding worried. She looked paler than I'd ever seen her.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's Glimmer." She said.

"What about her?" I snorted. Why would Katniss be worried about _Glimmer_?

"She's telling everyone she's pregnant…With Cato's baby."

"Well, she's a liar."

"She showed everyone her pregnancy test, Clove. It's positive."


	13. Whose Body Am I Burying?

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

I slammed Glimmer against a locker as soon as I saw her.

"Mind my baby, Clove!" She smirked.

"You bitch. You know how many looks I got just walking over here?" I hissed. Everyone thought that I was a home wrecker. They thought I'd torn Glimmer and Cato apart and know this baby wouldn't have both of its parents.

"It's probably because of the video. You know, the one of you and the father of my baby making out." She smirked again. I shook her and her head slammed into the lockers.

"And you couldn't have dealt with this whole thing privately? We could have kept it between the three of us, but you told the _whole _school!" I was about to shake her again when I felt arms loop around my waist and Cato gently pulled me away from Glimmer.

"Clove." He said softly. "We can deal with this." I glanced over at Glimmer. She pulled a pregnancy test out of her pocket and showed us it before putting it away again. It was definitely positive.

"No, Cato. _You _can deal with this." I turned and walked out of the building. I hadn't made it very far outside when Cato grabbed my wrist and spun me around.

"Clove will you just listen to me, please? We can make this work!" He said.

"No we can't." I whispered.

"I'll…I'll look after the baby on weekends or something. Then I'll have weekdays for you." His fingers moved from my wrist and clutched my own fingers. I had gotten a lot better at letting people touch my wrists, but I still winced when somebody I didn't know brushed my hand in the street. It also didn't help that I trusted Cato way more than I'd be willing to admit.

"She's carrying your _child_, Cato. You need to be with her." I pressed my thumbs to my closed eyes, hoping to stop tears that threatened to spill.

"But I don't want her, Clovey. I want _you_." He looked so crushed that I had to resist the urge to fly into his arms.

"I'm sorry Cato." I ran away, down the roads leading away from the school until I reached my house. I went inside and slammed the door after me. I leaned against it, panting heavily. On my own in my house, I finally let the tears fall. Why did Glimmer have to ruin everything? What did I ever do to her?

"Clove? You okay?" Marla stepped out of my bedroom. When she saw me crying she rushed forward and engulfed me in a bear hug.

"Whose body am I burying, Clo?" She whispered in my ear.

"Glimmer's." My eyes flashed in anger. "And her stupid baby's."

"What?!" I had told Marla about Glimmer and how bitchy she was.

"She's _pregnant _Marla. With Cato's baby."

"Want me to punch her in the stomach?"

"Marla!" I frowned, but I realised she was joking and starting laughing.

"Come on. I think my brother wants to see you." Marla smiled.

"Well, I don't want to see him." I crossed my arms stubbornly.

"Well if you're not with Cato anymore, what's the harm?"

"I guess you're right…" I trailed off. She linked her arm through mine and we left the house together. The town where Marla was staying wasn't far, so we walked.

-Line Break-

"DON! OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!" Marla yelled. She had knocked about ten times.

"I'm coming! Jeez, Marla!" He swung the door open and his eyes widened when he saw me.

"Hey, Don." I smiled sheepishly.

"Clove. H-how are you?" He stutters nervously, running a hand through his dark hair.

"I'm fine, thanks. What about you? I haven't seen you in…A while." Don and I started dating when I was fifteen. We split up five months before I moved. We got back together two months after and then split up again when I left Ohio.

"I'm good. Can I talk to you?" He asked. He shot a glare at Marla. "Alone."

"Whatever." Marla mumbled and walked inside. Don grabbed a key off of the nearest counter and stepped outside. He shut the door behind him.

"I'm just going to cut straight to it, Clove. I've missed you. A lot." He said, taking my hand in his. If he had done that a month ago, I would have blushed bright red. Now I just looked at him calmly.

"I guess I've missed you too. We're in two different states now." I told him truthfully.

"I mean I've missed having you as my girlfriend, Clo. I want you back."

"Don…"

"I know, I know. We live far away. But I'm eighteen, I can get a job. When I enough money I can move down here and we can be together. Like the old times." He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. As his lips were about to meet mine, I pushed him away.

"I can't." I answered, avoiding his gaze.

"Why not? I'm willing to give up my life in Ohio as soon as I get enough money. Everything will be perfect! We'll love each other again." He ran his free hand up down my arm.

"We won't." I whispered.

"Why not?"

"We just won't."

"Come on Clove, if you're going to break my heart at least tell me why you can't love me again." He frowned.

"Because I'm in love with someone else!" As soon as I said it, I clamped my hands over my mouth. It was true. I didn't just like Cato anymore…I loved him.

How the hell was this going to work out?


	14. You're Mine

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Thank you for all the reviews! :)**

**Cato's POV while Clove is with Marla and Don:**

"What the hell were you thinking?" I yelled, slamming my lunch tray down next to Glimmer. Clove still hadn't come back to school. I knew I should have gone after her. Glimmer rubbed her stomach.

"Seriously, darling? What was _I _thinking? It takes two to tango, if you know what I mean." She grinned. If she wasn't a girl, I would have punched her in the eye.

"You're not pregnant." I hissed.

"I am!" She protested, her hand lingering on her stomach.

"If you are, it isn't mine! I can't believe I've only just realised that there is no way this baby is mine." I rolled my eyes at her.

"It's yours, Cato." She went to stroke my face with her thumb, but I pushed it away.

"I'm not stupid, Glimmer. We haven't done anything like _that _in almost two months and you haven't even out on a pound! You're not pregnant."

"Fine!" She pounded her fist on the table. "I'm not pregnant. Happy?"

"No actually, I'm not! Why would you say you were?"

"Because I want you back, Cato!" She pouted. "We were so good together. What happened?"

"Nothing happened. I just moved on from you." I told her calmly, even though her own voice had risen.

"But why?" She whined.

"Because you're not Clove." I pushed my lunch tray away and stood up. I heard Glimmer call to me when I reached the door.

"Where are you going, Cato?!"

"To find the girl I love." I called back, not turning around.

-Line Break-

Don kicked the door in anger.

"You're in love with someone else? Who?" He glared at the floor in front of me.

"His name is Cato." I answered him. I didn't tell him about Glimmer's pregnancy and that I had broken up with him. It would only get Don's hopes up.

"And you're sure there's nothing I can do to change your mind?" He asked, looking hopeful.

"No. I'm sorry. I had a lot of fun with you, Don. You were my first serious boyfriend. But I don't think I've loved you for a while now. You were always like a brother to me."

"A brother who can kiss like a professional?" He waggled his eyebrows at me, grinning. I laughed, and thunder boomed above us.

"Aw, crap. You'd better come in before it starts raining." He unlocked the door and stepped out of the way so I could go inside.

"Thanks."

"Anytime. Head upstairs, Marla's probably in one of the guest rooms. I'm going for a walk."

"But it's about to rain."

"Maybe it'll brighten my day." He smiled sadly and closed the door for me, leaving me inside.

After a few hours, Marla gave me a ride home. It was raining harder than I'd ever seen it rain before.

"Well, I guess that's West Virginia for you." I muttered. Marla laughed and rolled her eyes.

"I like it here, Clo. But I still want you to come back to Ohio."

"I want to go back, too." I lied. How was I supposed to tell my best friend that I would rather stay here with a boy I've only known for two months? She'd kill me with my own knife if I said that.

"Here you go. I'll see you soon?" Marla pulled up on the side of the road and I unbuckled my seatbelt.

"Of course. Thanks for the ride." I grinned at her and got out of the car. I looked over at the house. The wind had completely blown the roof of the porch off. Sat on the step with the rain beating down on him was Cato. I ran over to him, frowning.

"Cato! What are you doing here? You're soaking!" I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head. My jacket wasn't exactly waterproof, but it would keep me drier than Cato was. He was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans. His head shot up at the sound of my voice and he stood.

"Glimmer's not pregnant Clove. She lied." He whispered, his voice almost carried away with the wind. My eyes widened. Glimmer wasn't pregnant. I could keep Cato. I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. With the rain pouring down on us and lightening flashing above us, we kissed like we'd never kissed before.

"You're mine, Clove." Cato whispered when I pulled away, gasping for air. He rested his forehead against mine. "And I will _never _hurt you."

"Break my heart and I'll break your nose." I whispered back. He laughed quietly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

**Awww, a cheesy Clato moment. :) Every fic needs a cheesy moment. ;) I hope you enjoyed it, and sorry it's shorter than usual. **


	15. The TTE Part I

**I don't own The Hunger Games. Again, thanks for all the reviews. :) I'M SKIPPING FORWARD TO THE TTE! :D**

"Eight weeks, Clovey. We've been together for eight weeks. That's like, two months." Cato said. We were sat on a plane on our way to New York, where this year's TTE would be held. He was leaning against the window, smiling at me. My hand was rested on the arm rest and he was playing with my fingers. I was sat next to him in the aisle seat, reading a book.

"I know. The time's gone by really quickly." I snapped my book shut and rested in on my lap.

"Well, you know what they say. Time flies when you're having fun." He kissed the top of my head and I rolled my eyes.

"You're so cheesy, Cato."

"You love me really, Clovey." He grinned cheekily.

"Yeah." I answered. "I think I do." Cato leaned in and kissed me. It wasn't fast and desperate like the time when we were caught in the rain and I had a terrible cold the next day, but it was just as filled with emotion.

"I love you, Clove. It scares me, because I don't think I've ever loved someone like this before." He said sincerely.

"I love you too, Cato."

-Line Break-

The hotel had fifteen floors, one for each school, a lobby, a floor for the stylist's workshops on the top floor and a training room underground. Because we were from the second best school in the country, we were on floor two. The best school stayed on floor one. It was incredibly hard to get into. Our school was much easier, which is why we had so many transfers each year. Katniss had transferred here when she was three from school number twelve's nursery. Johanna had been transferred three years ago from school number seven. Finnick and Annie had transferred to Mockingjay high together four years ago. Cato had been here all his life. He claimed it was because of the great training programme and basketball team, but I think that he just had a soft spot for Berkeley Springs.

We dumped our bags in our separate rooms and then met up our floor's dining room. We had an escort with us, her name was Larisa Trinket. She was the sister of school twelve's escort Effie. We also had a mentor, Phoenix Baker. He had won the TTE ten years ago after his partner had taken a fatal shot, when he was sixteen. He had won the 64th; Cato and I were going for 74th. There were three training sessions and then a private training session where the instructors marked you out of twelve. Then there were interviews. This was done so the viewers could decide who to bet on. After that, there was a tournament type event. All twenty four of us would be put in an arena, wearing body armour. **(*) **There would be a selection of weapons. None of the weapons could actually hurt, but if you took a fatal shot you were deemed 'dead' and removed from the arena. Two contestants from the same school could win, or just one contestant. To say I was excited would have been an understatement.

"Okay, guys." Larisa checked her watch. "It's half past five. You'll spend the rest of the day with your stylists, preparing for the opening ceremony. Because Mockingjay High is in West Virginia, you'll be probably be dressed as flowers or something."

"Flowers?" Cato asked, frowning.

"Yeah. Because of West Virginia's nature and stuff. Now follow me!" Larisa replied.

"There's no way I'm dressing as a fucking flower." Cato muttered to me as we were ushered into the elevator. I laughed and he mock-glared at me.

"I think you'd make a cute flower. You could be a pansy." I said between laughs. Cato poked me in the ribs and I laughed even harder.

"That reminds me…" He trailed off and started to tickle me until I was screaming with laughter.

"Stop acting like kids and learn some manners!" Larisa snapped at us. I stopped laughing and we stood in the elevator in silence. Cato kept pulling funny faces at me when Larisa wasn't watching and it wasn't long until I was in fits of laughter again. Larisa opened her mouth to speak again, but the elevator dinged and the doors opened. She grabbed each of us by the wrist and dragged us into our stylists' workshop.

"Good luck with these two. They're acting like _kids_." Larisa rolled her eyes.

"They _are_ kids, Larry." The female stylist said, and the male next to her laughed. She had pale blue hair and matching eyebrows. Her male co-worker has dark green hair and a thin black stripe going down his nose. Even for New Yorkers, their style was pretty out there.

"Don't call me Larry! I'm out of here." Larisa left, slamming the door after her.

"Er…I think we pissed her off." Cato said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't worry about her. I'm Cindy." The female stylist stuck her hand out and we both shook it.

"And I'm Jerry. Pleased to make your acquaintance." We shook his hand too, and he eyed Cato hungrily. I stifled a laugh as he nervously edged closer to me.

"Cindy, I want to style _him_." He whispered to Cindy, but we could still hear him.

"We've been over this Jerry. I've got him. You've got the girl." Cato let out a sigh of relief when he heard that. Jerry pouted, but smiled again we he looked over at me.

"Come on, girl. We've got important work to do!" With that, he dragged me into an adjoining room.

***Like Cato had in The Hunger Games**


	16. The TTE Part II

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( I know that I said the TTE lasted five days, but I've changed my mind. :) Now it doesn't have an official ending day.**

"I feel like a male stripper."

I glanced over at Cato, stifling a laugh. My stylist Jerry had dressed me up in a knee length pale green dress. It had a white belt and beads embroidered into the shape of flowers going up the sides. Cato, however, was wearing considerably less. Cindy had clearly wanted to show Cato off, because the only thing he was wearing was a pair of knee length shorts made out of leaves.

"You look like one, too." I replied, looking around me at the other contestants. We were all stood in chariots, waiting to be pulled out onto a track so that the audience could get a good first look at us. School one was in front of us, and school three were behind us.

"Mean." Cato poked me in the ribs and I let out a laugh.

"Hey, you said it first." I smirked. He rolled his eyes at me. I was leaning in to kiss him when Cato yelped in pain.

"No! You'll ruin her make-up!" Jerry had dug his unusually long finger nails into Cato's bare stomach. Jerry gestured for me to bend over.

"Here you go. Now you look perfect!" He said as he slid a daisy behind my ear. He positioned my curled hair so that you could see the flower. Then he ran off to help Cindy with something, wishing us luck as he went.

"He was right, you know. You look beautiful." Cato said, taking my hand in his.

"Thanks." I smiled. Our chariot started moving and he squeezed my hand as I wobbled a bit.

"Don't fall out, Clovey."

"Trust me. I'll be trying not to."

The crowd roared and cheered, almost deafening me, as we were pulled by the horses onto the track. Cato and I waved to them, and they cheered even more. I looked ahead at school one. The contestants were awkwardly stood next to each other, clutching the railing to avoid falling over. It looked like we wouldn't be outshone by them this year. Cato kissed me on the cheek, and the crowd went mental. I grinned and waved some more. Half the girls in the crowd were practically drooling over Cato. Cato knew that he looked good and started striking poses. I laughed as he showed off for the crowd.

"That was amazing!" Cindy complimented us when we re-joined her, Jerry and Larisa in the lobby.

"I agree! You really showed them your best!" Jerry said, his eyes on Cato. I tried not to laugh. He was so blatantly gay that it was amusing.

"We should be getting back to our floor. I'm…Tired." Cato lied, looking kind of scared. "Come on, Clovey." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the elevator.

"God, that man scares me." Cato said when the doors clicked shut.

"He was _so _checking you out." I smirked.

"I know. And it scares me." Cato shuddered.

"Maybe you should leave me and get with him…You can have children that love fashion and stabbing people." I joked.

"No." Cato wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me. At that moment, the elevator doors decided to open.

"Ahem." Cato and I broke away from each other and looked for the source of the voice. Our mentor, Phoenix, stood in the hallway with his arms crossed.

"That's not how you win the TTE. Stop sucking each other's faces off and get some sleep, you've got training tomorrow."

-Line Break-

"Up, up, up! It's a big day today!" I heard Larisa yelling from outside my room. I heard Cato throw something at his door, annoyed. I checked the clock next to me. It was 7:00am. Groaning, I rolled over and went back to sleep again. Larisa could go jump off a bridge for all I cared. I like my sleep.

"Oof!" My eyes shot open as I felt something heavy land on me. Now, the clock read 7:30am. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Cato was lying on his back on top of my stomach, fully dressed in training clothes.

"Good morning, Clovey." He said. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Get off of me, Cato." I muttered, shoving him. He rolled off of me, landing on his butt on the floor.

"That was mean." He stood up and extended a hand to me. I ignored it, pulling my pillow over my face. He sighed wrapped his arms around my waist. In one swift motion, he scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"CATO!" I pounded on his back with my fists. "Put me down _now_!"

"Do you promise to be a good little girl and get dressed for training? Or do I have to tickle you again?"

"Yes, whatever! Just put me down!" I hit him one last time before he put me down.

"Next time you'll get the water bucket." He smirked.

"You wouldn't." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Try me." He left my room and closed the door behind him. Reluctantly, I pulled the wardrobe open. I selected a white t-shirt and black knee length training shorts. I laid my outfit on my bed and stepped into the adjoining bathroom. I took a shower, brushed my teeth and pulled my wet hair up into a pony tail. I pulled on my clothes and joined the others in the dining room. I took my place at the table next to Cato.

"Better late than never." Larisa glared at me. I ignored her and placed a piece of buttered toast on my plate.

"Really, Clove. All this lovely food available and you take _toast_?" Larisa glared at me some more.

"She can do what she wants." Cato said, frowning at Larisa. "We have training in an hour anyway, so a light breakfast is necessary." That shut Larisa up.

"We should discuss strategy for the final tournament. What skills do you have?" Phoenix asked, his mouth full of bacon.

"I use a sword and spears." Cato said.

"I throw knives."

"Do you plan on making any allies? I suspect the usual lot." Phoenix said. Most years schools one, two and four teamed up in the final tournament and then split at the final six. School three wasn't included because they were only ranked at three for their technology. Their training programme was terrible.

"Schools one and four's contestants are looking strong this year. So yeah, probably." Cato answered. Strategy and plans were what he exceled at, other than fighting. In the tournament, he would come up with our battle plan and I would focus on survival skills, like making a fire or shelter.

"How do you plan on winning sponsors?" He asked. God, was this man made of questions or something?

"By fighting hard and proving that we're the better pair." Cato responded, finishing off his apple.

"Do you not think that's what everyone else is planning? How would that make you different from School One?" Phoenix frowned. I glanced at Cato. He seemed to be in thought, wondering about sponsors.

"The audience like a good show, right?" I asked. Everyone at the table nodded. "Then leave it to me. I have a plan."

We were the last pair to reach the training centre. The head instructor gave us all a speech on how nobody will actually die so it's okay if you can't use a weapon. I rolled my eyes at this. Only the lower schools in the ranking system, like twelve, can't handle weapons. When she was finished talking, we were free to go to each station. Cato and I followed the pair from School One over to the archery station.

"Hey." Cato said, as the boy from one tested a bow and fired an arrow. It hit the bullseye. Cato smirked at me and I nodded.

"Our schools have an alliance every year, as you probably know." I said.

"Yeah? Well Malinda and I work alone." The boy's eyes roamed over me. "You don't look like much anyway, girly. Maybe out should just take you out now." He sneered. Cato grabbed him by the throat.

"Watch out in the tournament. Because you're the first one I get." He said in a low growl. I pulled on Cato's arm and he released the boy's throat and stepped away.

"You didn't have to do that." I said when were out of earshot from the pair from School One.

"Yes I did. I can't have people thinking they can mess with my girlfriend, can I? Besides, he hasn't seen what you can do with a knife." I returned Cato's smile as he dragged me over to the hand-to-hand combat station where the girl from School Four was oiling up her skin for a wrestling match against the girl from School Eight.

"Alliance. Yes or no?" Cato asked, getting straight to the point this time.

"Sure. I'm Katrina. Trey and I were hoping you'd ask. What about the dickheads from one?" The girl responded, smiling warmly at Cato but completely ignoring me.

"They're out." He said simply. "Come on, Clove. You've got knives to play with." He pulled me away from the station and over to the knife-throwing area.

"What's the rush?" I asked.

"We're not here to mess about, Clovey. We have to show them what we can do. I'm going over to the spear throwing station, okay?" I nodded in response to him and gave me a quick peck on the lips before walking off.

"Get lost." I said to the boy from School Five, who was eying up the throwing knives that were laid out on a table. He ran off, scared. I ran my hands over the array of knives. Picking one up, I threw it at the target to test it. I threw it so hard that it went straight through the bullseye and hit the knot-tying station behind it. Half the contestants in the room were looking at me warily. Smirking, I picked up another knife.

This was wear the _real _fun would begin.

**I think this is my longest chapter. :) So, this story is quite a way off of finishing, but I have decided that I want to do a sequel. The only problem is, I don't know what to write it about. I would be really grateful if you could review with ideas. :) If I decide to use your idea, you will get a chapter dedicated to you in this fic, and OC in the sequel and a shoutout. :) Thank you in advance.**


	17. The TTE Part III

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( So, this story is quite a way off of finishing, but I have decided that I want to do a sequel. The only problem is, I don't know what to write it about. I would be really grateful if you could review with ideas. :) If I decide to use your idea, you will get a chapter dedicated to you in this fic, and OC in the sequel and a shoutout. :) I'll keep pasting this until I get an idea. :)**

After another two days of intense training, it was time for our private session with the instructors. We would be ranked out of twelve. The highest anyone has ever received is an eleven. Katniss got it the year she won for shooting an arrow at the instructors. Cato and I sat in a small waiting room just outside the training room whilst the boy from one has his session. I found out that his name is Denys, he's fifteen and his partner Malinda's sixteen. They're brother and sister. He exited the training room, smirking. He high-fived Malinda when she passed him to go in.

"Try beating that, Two." He sneered. I rolled my eyes, feeling Cato tense next to me. I found it hard to believe that he could lose his temper so easily because he's so gentle with me. I ran my hand down his arm.

"Let the bastard gloat. We'll knock his score right out of the water." I smirk confidently.

"You _wish_." Denys said before leaving the room.

"We need to do what Katniss did, Clovey. Get elevens by making the instructors remember us." Cato said, taking my hand in his.

"We will. We're easily the best pair here." I said. Cato kissed my hand before saying,

"And that is why I love you."

"Whatever." I responded, but I was smiling. Cato released my hand when he was called to the training room. Malinda smiled slightly at me before exiting the room in the elevator.

-Line Break-

"Clove Fuhrman. School Two, Mockingjay High, West Virginia." I said confidently as I walked into the training room, stopping in front of the instructors' box. The only evidence of Cato ever being in here was a severed dummy head and a large crack in the wall. I guess he was pretty serious about being remembered.

"You may begin." One of them said. I immediately walked over to the knife throwing station. I picked up four knives, walked away from the target and threw three all at once. They all hit the different targets, in the centre. I pulled the knives out and walked back again. Without turning around to face the targets, I threw the knives. They landed in the same places as they did before. That's what you get from years of practice. I picked up the last knife from where I had put it on the floor. Taking a deep breath, I threw it with all the strength I could muster. It whizzed through the air before cutting straight through one of the knives already stuck in the target and hit the wall behind.

"Thank you, Ms Fuhrman. You are dismissed." The instructors looked impressed. Smiling to myself, I made my way back to Mockingjay High's floor.

-Line Break-

"Ready for this?" Cato asked. I nodded. I was sat next to him on the couch, his arm around my shoulders. He turned the TV on with the remote and we started to watch the scores flashing up on the screen. Denys scored a ten. Malinda got a nine. Cato's face appeared on the screen and I bit my lip. I knew how much getting a good score meant to him. He pulled an eleven and I could almost feel him grinning, but he won't celebrate until we know my score. An eleven flashed up next to my picture and I find myself grinning just as much as Cato.

**Okay, sorry that this chapter was REALLY short. I'll try and update tomorrow, but I'm busy on Tuesdays. If I don't get the interviews up tomorrow, they'll be up and Wednesday. :)**


	18. The TTE Part IIII

**I don't own The Hunger Games.**

"Twirl for me, girl!" Jerry squealed. Rolling my eyes, I twirled for him in my interview dress. It was pale blue and strapless. Like my opening ceremony dress, it reached my knees. I wore a silver belt around it. Jerry had also given me a necklace to wear. It was silver a silver chain with a diamanté C on it. My shoes were silver flats.

"Happy?"

"Very! You look gor-ge-ous!" He yelled excitedly. I will never get used to this man and his funny vocabulary.

"Can we go down to the stage now?" I asked impatiently. I still hadn't forgiven Jerry for showing blatant interest in my boyfriend.

"One last thing, then we can go!" He said, going over to his drawer and rummaging around in it. He pulled out a pair of heart stud earrings. He handed them to me and I put them in my ears.

"They're really pretty." I confessed.

"I know. Cato told me to give them too you." Jerry took my hand in his and pulled me towards the door to Cindy's adjoining stylist workshop.

"CINDY!" He drummed on the door. "WE'RE COMING THROUGH!"

"We've been sat here waiting for twenty minutes, Jerry!" Came her faint reply. My stylist shrugged before opening the door. Cato was wearing black dress pants, black shoes, a black suit jacket, a button-up shirt the same colour as my dress and a black tie. I had to admit, he looked good.

"You look amazing, Clovey." Cato said, slipping his hand into mine as I approached him.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I smirked. He kissed me on cheek before pulling me out of the door. Larisa was stood outside, looking impatient.

"Finally. Follow me." She strut off down the hall and we followed after her.

-Line Break-

Malinda's interview angle was sweet, but she let the audience know that she could take everyone down easily. Denys was somewhat hostile, but he cracked a smile a few times at Caesar Flickerman's jokes.

"Ladies and gentleman. We have another treat for you now! All the way from School Two, Mockingjay High, we have…Clove Fuhrman!" I heard the roars of applause from the audience before I even stepped on stage. Caesar kissed both of my cheeks and then I sat down.

"So, Clove." He said.

"So, Caesar." I responded playfully. The audience let out a small laugh.

"What, or who, encouraged you to try for the TTE?" He asked.

"Easy question." I smiled. "My older brother, Joey. He passed two years ago, and now I try my hardest to do well because I know that's what he would have wanted for me." The audience 'Awwwed' at my story.

"Well, isn't that sweet. What happened to him?" Caesar asked. I swallowed awkwardly.

"He…Was in a car accident." I lied. .

"Do you miss him?"

"Yes, a lot. I think about him all the time."

"I'm sure he's proud of you. You're very pretty, Clove."

"Why, thank you Caesar. Aren't my stylists amazing?" To get sponsors, I knew that I had to ooze charm and confidence. Cato's angle will be the same when it's his turn.

"Indeed. Now Clove, I have to ask. Do you have a special someone back home?" A smile tugged at his lips. He expected me to say no. That I only focus on my training.

"Well, he's not at home. He's sat backstage right now." I grinned.

"You're school partner?"

"Yes. Cato. He's very special to me." I couldn't keep the smile off of face. I never could when I talked about Cato.

"And how long have you been seeing each other?" He asked.

"Two months. And we're going to win this thing together." I smirked. The buzzer went off, signalling that my time was over.

"Clove Fuhrman everybody!" Caesar yelled, lifting my arm up into the air. The audience cheered as I walked off stage.

"Good luck." I whispered in Cato's ear when I passed him. He smiled at me before stepping onto the stage. I sat down with the rest of the contestants and watched his interview on the television screen.

"So, Cato. The lucky man." Caesar smiled.

"That would be me." He responded. Half of the girls in the audience practically swooned when he cracked a smile.

"What are your intentions?" He asked. I smiled, thinking about when Cato asked Vick the exact same question.

"I just want to make her happy. I'll do anything just to see her smiling." Cato said. I was pretty sure that a few people watching fainted whilst the others 'Awwwed.' New Yorkers just keep getting stranger.

"What's your plan for the final tournament tomorrow?" Caesar asked.

"I won't give too much away, but Clove and I are going to win this thing easily." He shot a cocky grin at the audience and they chuckled. Cato had always been better with words than me.

"And what will happen to anyone that gets in your way?"

"We'll take them down, my friend." Cato grinned again.

"Spoken like a true man. Cato Ludwig everybody!" Caesar Flickerman shook his hand and Cato walked off stage. He sat next to me and we watched the rest of the interviews. We weren't really paying much attention to School Three, but we listened to School Four because they were our allies. We made predictions of what we thought their angle would be, but what Trey said shocked even the School One contestants.

"So, young man." Caesar said. We all knew what question was coming next.

"I'm not that young, Caesar. I'm sixteen." Trey smiled.

"So I've heard. Do you have a special someone back home?"

"Well…There is one girl. She's a contestant this year, actually. I've been watching her in training. She's incredible." When he said this, I held back a gasp. He was about to confess to being in love with one of the contestants. I glanced over at Malinda from One. Her eyes had gone wide. Maybe it was her that he liked, then.

"And what's this young lady's name?" Caesar asked gently.

"Clove…Her name's Clove."


	19. The TTE Part V

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Thank you for the suggestions; I have decided what the sequel will be about! :D CatoAndCloveMeantToBe please PM with your OC, because your suggestion is what gave me the idea. :) This chapter is dedicated to you.**

I had to grab Cato's arm to stop him from leaping up, charging onto the stage and ripping Trey's head off of his shoulder.

"Let me go, Clove!" He yelled, struggling. "I'll kill him!"

"Cato, I think you need to calm down! Please?" I pleaded. He pulled out of my grip, but didn't move towards the stage like I presumed he would.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't punch that guy's face in." His eyes flashed with anger and I placed my hands lightly on his chest.

"Because what he just said…The feeling isn't mutual. You know it isn't." I said, looking straight into his eyes.

"That's not a reason." Cato protested. He _really _wanted to punch Trey. I could tell.

"There's no need to kick his ass! You'll be disqualified and it would just show me that you don't trust me enough to believe me when I say _it's not mutual_!" I poked him in the chest. He retaliated my poking me on the nose.

"Okay, Clovey. But if he tries anything I might just forget that nobody actually dies in the TTE and I'll snap his neck." He said seriously. He would undoubtedly do it. I ran my hands up his shoulders and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"It's probably just for sponsors, anyway. I love you." I said. He kissed me on the nose.

"I love you too." I took my arms down and he took my hand in his. We sat back down again and when Trey exited the stage, Cato shot him a pretty scary glare.

"Hey, man." He said when he saw Cato. "No hard feelings. It's just that, well, Clove's my type." I had to grip onto his shoulder again to stop him from dropkicking Trey straight into next week.

"Whatever. Just be glad that we're allies." Cato growled. When all the interviews were over, we made our way back up to our floor. I went straight to sleep. With the tournament tomorrow, I'd need all the energy I could get.

-Line Break-

"You and Cato are going to be the best victors _ever_!" Jerry squealed. We were stood in the launch pad under this year's arena. I was wearing a black tank top and black spandex leggings under my thick body armour. If anything hit me in the head, chest, stomach or neck the armour would automatically transport me back to my floor. The technology they had here was amazing. My arm still stung slightly from my tracker, but other than that I felt fine. I was excited; I'd been training for this moment for eight years.

"Thanks." I grinned as he led me towards the glass tube. I stepped into it and it snapped shut. I waved to Jerry as the countdown started and I was brought up into the arena. I glanced around. The ground was sand. There was a forest to my right, a river to the left and the Cornucopia was about one hundred metres in front of me. Beyond it was a selection of sand dunes and behind me was a slope, leading down to who knows what?

_10…_

_9…_

_8…_

I positioned my feet to run. I could see a belt full of throwing knives next to the Cornucopia. Cato was four plates to my left, eying up a sword that lay on the ground just inside the Cornucopia. The gong sounded and I took off running. I scooped up two rucksacks on my way to the knives and threw them both over my shoulders. I tossed one to Katrina. As I ran, I watched her scoop up a mace that was covered in spikes. She hit the male contestant from Nine in the head and he instantly disappeared. I reached the knives and quickly strapped the belt around my waist. Twelve knives dangled from it. I pulled one free and hurled it at the female contestant from Five. The knife struck the area over her heart and she too disappeared. I retrieved my knife and let my eyes wander over the bloodbath. Cato was locked in combat, sword to metal club, with the boy from Eleven. Katrina was chasing down any contestants with items from the Cornucopia. Trey was having a spear-on-spear fight with the girl from Six. He glanced over at me.

"Clove, duck!" He yelled. I hit the ground, no questions asked. I heard an arrow go whizzing over my head and spun around. Malinda and Denys from One were retreating to the woods, both holding bows. Malinda was the one how took the shot at me. I sprinted after them and flung a knife just as they reached the first few trees. I hit her square in the back of the neck and she disappeared. Denys spun around, and it was obvious that he was angry. He reached notched an arrow in his bow, but didn't release it when he saw the knife in my hand. He backed away into the forest, and I let him go. We could hunt him down later. I did run over and retrieve my knife though before heading back to the bloodbath.

"Thanks." I muttered to Trey. Only two contestants remained, the others had fled. Cato was still fighting with the boy from Eleven. Katrina was going mace to knife with the girl from Three.

"Anything for you, Clove." He smirked. He knew that this whole thing was about to get to me. How could he like me? I hadn't even had more than a five minute conversation with the guy! Besides, he had no right to confess something like that when he knew I'm in a relationship already. Cato stabbed the boy in the armour over his stomach, and he disappeared. I ignored Trey and joined him by the mouth of the Cornucopia, just as Katrina took down the girl from Three.

"You okay?" He asked me. "No injuries?" If we were hit in any place that wasn't fatal, it would hurt like hell. A knife in the arm wouldn't bleed, but it could facture the bone.

"I'm fine. What about you?" I responded.

"Yeah, I'm good." We picked over the weapons and rucksacks in silence. I repacked four rucksacks with a spare knife, two packets of dried fruit, three packets of dried beef, a full litre bottle of water, some iodine to purify water, a small coil of rope and a solar powered flashlight. I placed three spare knives in my rucksack and one in Cato's. When the time came to break away from Katrina and Trey, I wanted us to be armed better than them. We set up the three tents that we found. We only needed three, because somebody would always be on watch.

"Hey Clove, I have an idea. Take some supplies and put them inside the Cornucopia." Cato said. Eventually, we had moved all of our supplies to the inside of the silver horn. Katrina and Trey walked around the corner, armed to the teeth. Katrina had two maces, dangling from each side of her belt. She shoved one into her backpack when I handed it to her before throwing it into one of the tents. Trey had three spears strapped to his back, so he threw his backpack over his shoulder.

"I'm guessing you guys want to rest after that fight. I'll take the first watch." He said.

"Yeah, whatever. Sleep now guys, because we'll go hunting late at night." Katrina said, retreating into the tent she had thrown her backpack into. I made my way over to the one, but before I could go inside I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around.

"Stay up with me?" Trey asked, looking hopeful.

"She's sleeping in my tent." Cato said, glaring at Trey. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from Trey.

"What a dickhead." Cato muttered, throwing himself into a sleeping bag.

"I know." I said, crawling in next to him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I lay me head on his chest.

"Goodnight, Clovey." He whispered, brushing a strand of hair off of my forehead.

"Goodnight, Cato." I drifted off to sleep, listening to the nine cannons signalling the contestants' removal from the tournament.


	20. The TTE Part VI

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( In response to an anonymous review- Yes, two tributes can win if they are from the same school. :)**

Cato and I were awoken to the sound of a loud clashing. We both shot out of the dark coloured sleeping bag and exited the tent, weapons drawn. It was dark now, and fake stars gave off a soft light in the sky. We were greeted by the noise again.

"Katrina, will you stop that? Some of us like to keep our eardrums non-perforated." I frowned. She was hitting her maces together, which was causing the noise.

"Yeah." Cato agreed. "You'll wake up the whole arena."

"I had to wake you up somehow!" She protested.

"You could've come inside the tent and shook our shoulders or something!" I frowned again. Katrina crossed her arms over her stomach, the maces dangling from her hands.

"There was no _way _I was going in that tent. How knows what you were doing in there?"

"We were just sleeping." I muttered, flushing bright red. Cato and Katrina were practically pissing themselves with laughter at the expression on my face. Trey looked somewhat amused, but slightly annoyed.

"That's what they all say." Katrina said between laughs. Thankfully the TTE anthem sounded, saving me from further embarrassment. One by one, the faces of those removed the tournament appeared in the sky. The first to appear was Malinda from One. She was followed by the boy from Three, and then the girl from Three. The boy and girl from Five appeared. As did the boy from Nine and the boy from Ten. Finally, the girl from Twelve's face flashed in the sky before disappearing.

"Nine down." I said. "Now are you going to stand here and laugh at me, or are we going to go hunting?" I asked. Cato rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Clovey. We'll go hunting if that's what you want." He took my hand in his and we led the way into the forest. Katrina and Trey walked behind us, weapons drawn, looking out for tributes. I used my flashlight to search the trees, and Cato used his to search for tracks in the sand. After a few hours, he freezes. The sand had faded away and was replaced by mud. Whatever footprints that were in the sand had been blown away ages ago, but Cato had spotted something in the mud.

"Follow me." He whispered, dropping my hand so he could pull out his sword. I pulled two knives from my belt and crept behind Cato. By the depth and size of the footsteps, I'd say that a girl with huge feet and a little extra weight passed through here recently. We crept along the trail for about half an hour before we caught sight of her. It was the girl from School Six. She was bent over a dead rabbit, skinning it with a knife. We crept closer, and Cato prepared to stab the suit around her neck when Trey stood on a twig.

_Snap!_

The girl spun around, a crazed look in her eye.

"Think you can sneak up on me? You'll have to try harder than that!" She sneered. Katrina lunged at her and they went tumbling to the ground. The girl dodged Katrina's mace, and Katrina avoided the girl's knife attacks. They somehow managed to disarm each other, and rolled around on the ground, grabbing at whatever exposed flesh on the others body they could. I was cheering Katrina on when I felt someone grab me from behind and press a knife to my neck. The two boys were still watching the fight and hadn't noticed.

"Drop the knives." He growled in my ear. Reluctantly, I dropped my two knives.

"Um, Cato?" He spun around when I said his name. His eyes widened when he saw the boy from Six with his knife pressed to my throat.

"Let her go." He demanded, his eyes hardening as he raised his sword. The boy pressed the knife to my throat a little more.

"Come closer and she'll disappear from this tournament for good. Call off your…Mutt." He said coolly. Katrina and the girl from Six both froze, Katrina had her in a headlock and had just been about to hit her with her mace. We all stood in silence, wondering what to do.

"She's not a mutt." I hissed eventually.

"Shut up." The boy from Six shook me and grabbed my wrist. A surge of energy flooded my body.

"Don't. Touch. My. Fucking. Wrists." I said through gritted teeth. Using my newfound energy, I kicked at my assailant. My foot connected with his stomach. He grunted and released me. I picked up the knives I had dropped and turned, flinging one into his protected stomach. He disappeared and cannon sounded. As I retrieved my knife, another cannon fired. When I turned to face my allies, the girl from Six was gone.

"Are you okay?" Cato asked, looking genuinely worried. He put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine. Let's keep walking." I brushed Cato's hand away, not wanting potential sponsors to think I was weak.

"We're going back to camp." Cato said. I knew there was no arguing with him.

"Okay. I'll lead the way." I turned and started walking.

"Clove, you may be suffering from trauma. A guy just held a _knife _to your neck. Let me help you walk." Trey said, stepping forward. He tried to wrap an arm around my waist, but I shoved him away.

"I can walk just fine, thanks. I'm not traumatised, but you might be if you ever try that again." I glared at him. Cato grabbed him by the collar.

"She's right. Only _I'll _be the one traumatising you. You're playing with fire here, kiddo." He snarled. He let him go and walked beside me. It was silent for a few minutes until Trey said,

"You're just jealous, you know. If you weren't here I'd have Clove begging for me by now." I could hear the smirk in Trey's voice. Cato spun around, sword drawn.

I kept on walking back to camp, ignoring the cannon that signalised Trey being removed from the tournament.

**A lot of you were asking for Cato to get rid of Trey, so here you go. :)**


	21. The TTE Part VII

**I don't own The Hunger Games. OH MY GOD FIFTY REVIEWS I AM SO HAPPY. Thank you so much, my awesome readers. ;)**

We could see our camp in the distance when the wind started to pick up.

"That's not good." Katrina muttered.

"What? Scared of a little wind?" Cato smirked. I slapped his arm.

"Idiot."

"Well, that was rude. What did I do?" He asked, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Think about it. This place is _full _of sand and the wind's picking up."

"Oh…" He trailed off.

"Yeah. It's not good. A sandstorm's coming." I sighed.

"We need to speed up." As soon as Katrina said those words, the wind speed picked up even more. Sand swirled around in the air around us until we couldn't see anymore.

"Cover your eyes, noses and mouths!" I heard Katrina yell. Sand filled my ears and I couldn't hear anything after that. I lifted my shirt up over my face. It made it slightly easier to breathe, but I was still having trouble walking. I stumbled along in the direction that I thought our camp was in, but the sandstorm had messed up my sense of direction. I kept on going forward, but the wind might have already spun me around slightly. I could fall in the river, or roll down the slope. If I walk into the Cornucopia, I'll never hear the end of it.

The sandstorm seemed to go on for hours, but I had lost all track of time. I just knew that I had to keep walking, otherwise I would be buried. I was exhausted; my legs were shaking with each step. The knife I was holding flew out of my hand. Eventually, I collapsed from fatigue. I still had my shirt pulled over my face, but what good would it be when the sand had completely buried me?

**Cato:**

When I opened my eyes, I was lying next to the supplies inside the mouth of the Cornucopia. It was still dark outside, so I must have only been out for a few hours. Katrina was sat next to me with her legs crossed, eating from a packet of dried apricots.

"Good. You're up." She said.

I sat upright and tipped my head to the side. After all the sand had been poured out of my left ear, I tipped my head to the other side. The same amount of sand poured out, making a pile on the floor. I glanced around, frowning.

"Where's Clove?" I asked. Katrina looked away from me, avoiding my eyes.

"Where's Clove?" I asked again, more aggressively.

"I don't know." Katrina answered honestly. "I guess we'll find out if she's still out there in a few minutes."

"Shit." I whispered. We'd lost her in the storm. Nobody dies in this tournament, but a sandstorm can do some serious damage.

"She'll be okay."

"I guess you're right. She's strong." I said. Katrina tossed me a small packet of dried beef, but it just tasted like cardboard to me. How could I possibly enjoy food when I was so worried about the state Clove was in? Even if she _had _been pulled out of the arena, the sand could have gotten into her lungs. She could be passed out in a hospital bed, blind and with some kind of lung disease. If she was still out in the arena, she could be buried. The anthem sounded just as I finished my dried beef. I walked outside to get a view of the sky. The first to appear was the boy from School Six, closely followed by the girl. The boy from Seven appeared, and then the sky went dark again. I unsheathed my sword, threw my rucksack over my shoulder and started to head off in the direction of the sand dunes.

"Where are you going?" Katrina asked. I turned around. She was stood a few metres behind me, clutching her mace and rucksack.

"To find Clove." I responded.

"What good will going now do? We're both still weak. We can find her in the morning!" She protested. She did have a point, but I couldn't afford to listen to her.

"I have to go _now_."

"Why?"

"Because I love her." When I got no reply, I carried on walking. I heard an irritated sigh from behind me.

"I'm coming with you."

"You don't have too. You can stay here and rest." I said, not breaking stride.

"I can't sleep without someone watch, I'll get stabbed. It don't have my partner anymore, do I?" She glared at me, but I ignored her. That little bastard deserved what he got. He's lucky I didn't kill him for real.

"Sorry about that." I lied. "He should have known not to mess with me."

"He wasn't! He was messing with _Clove_!" Katrina sighed.

"That's even worse. He should be glad that I didn't break his leg." I said. I wasn't kidding. I would have snapped him in half if he had tried anything else.

"You are _way _too protective of her." Katrina rolled her eyes. I had to resist the urge to smack her. If she wasn't a girl, I would have her on the floor clutching her nose.

"If you had any idea what she's been through, you would be too."

"It seriously can't be that bad."

"I wouldn't bet money on that, Katrina." I frowned. We reached the sand dunes and I looked around, wondering which way she went.

"See any sign of her?" I asked.

"Hmm…" Katrina narrowed her eyes. "There!" She sprinted forward and I raced after her. I looked over at where she was pointing. Buried under a layer of sand was a hilt. The rest of the knife wasn't visible. I pulled on it, and inspected the blade.

"Defiantly one of Clove's." I said. "We must be getting closer." I continued walking, faster this time. There was so much sand out here, it was amazing that she had lasted this long. I shook my head slightly. Thinking like that would only get me even more worried. I quickened my pace again.

_I'll find you Clove. I promise._


	22. The TTE Part VIII

**Do you think after the tournament I should do a Victor's interview thingy? I don't know if I should, it kind of feels like the TTE has been going on for ages. :L ALSO, I have written a Clato oneshot and I almost cried when I wrote it, check it out if you want. :) I don't own The Hunger Games.**

**Cato:**

"There she is!"

A lump formed in my throat when I heard Katrina's shout. I looked over at where she was pointing. A small, black clothed lump lay at the foot of a sand dune, buried under a thin layer of sand. I saw another figure in the distance. The figure was racing towards Clove. I took a deep breath and started my mad dash towards Clove. I had to reach her first. The closer I got to Clove, the more I could make out the figure. It was the girl from School Eleven. She was carrying some kind of wooden club with a spike on the end. I pushed myself into going at a full on sprint. The girl was closer to Clove than I was. I pushed myself again and I reached Clove just in time to slam into the girl from Eleven. We went tumbling onto the sand. I scooped up a handful and sprinkled it in her eyes, temporarily blinding her. She swung wildly at me with her club. I would've made the fight last if Clove wasn't laying two metres away from me, unconscious. I drove my sword into her the armour over her heart, a cannon and she disappeared. I made my way over to Clove on my knees.

"Is she okay?" I looked up. Katrina stood on the top of a small sand dune, watching the Cornucopia.

"I don't know." I peeled the shirt away from her face. Her forehead was covered in red scabs were the sand had been blown into her head. It looked pretty bad and it was oozing with pus.

"She's got some kind of sand infection on her forehead. It'll need treating." I called to Katrina. I pressed my fingers against Clove's neck. Her pulse was still strong, which was a good sign. I held my hand lightly over her mouth, checking for any kind of trouble with her breathing. I was praying that she didn't have any kind of lung disease from inhalation of sand. I breathed a sigh of relief. Her breathing was fine.

"All good?" Katrina asked, making her way down the sand dune.

"Yeah. I'm guessing she was just fatigued." I stood and picked Clove up bridal style. I slung her back pack over one of my shoulders.

"Good. Because some dickhead is about to raid our supplies." Katrina started walking and I fell into step next to her.

"Could you see who it was?" I asked, furious. What kind of idiot raided the camp of three of the strongest contestants in this tournament?

"I saw a bow, so I'm guessing it's that douchebag boy from One."

"Crap. You run ahead, I'll only slow you down." I said. She nodded and sprinted off in the direction of the Cornucopia. I re-positioned Clove in my arms and sped up a little. There is no _way _that Denys could get any of our weapons and supplies. He's a strong opposition, but I could take him down easily if he didn't have that stupid bow.

"Cato? This isn't a very smooth ride." Clove's voice was scratchy and sounded like it hurt her to speak. I reached into my rucksack and pulled out my water bottle.

"Drink this." I said.

"Yes, Mom." She rolled her eyes, but accepted the bottle. "Thanks." Her voice was a lot clearer after she had drunk about half the bottle. I put it back in my pack and frowned at her.

"Clove, you scared the shit outta me. _Never _go off on your own in a sandstorm again."

"It's not like I did it on purpose! I couldn't see three centimetres in front of me!" She protested. My gaze softened. It wasn't her fault, really. It could have happened to anyone.

"I'm sorry. I was just going out of my mind with worry. Sand can be dangerous." I said. She snorted.

"I'll always have a hatred for it now, I guess." She said and I laughed.

"Think you can walk? Denys is trying to raid our camp and I don't want Katrina to have to deal with him alone."

"Sure." I put her down. She took one step before collapsing onto the ground.

"I guess I'll just have to carry you." I sighed, pulling her up. At the sound of a bell, we turned our heads up to the sky. A white parachute was falling slowly through the sky. I reached up and grabbed it when it was close enough.

"What is it?" Clove asked, leaning on my shoulder for support.

"Some kind of ointment for your forehead and some pills." I handed her two of the tablets and she swallowed them. Then I unscrewed the ointment lid and dipped my fingers in it. I wiped the ointment across Clove's forehead and she let out a sigh of pleasure.

"I feel like I could run a marathon." She said, grinning.

"Well let's get going then." I grinned back. I tossed her rucksack to her and we started to sprint across the sand to get back to our camp. We could see two small figures, Katrina and Denys, having a knife fight. Denys' bow lay on the ground, his quiver of arrows still on his back. He landed a blow to Katrina's cheek and she went down instantly.

"She's unconscious!" Clove yelled. We were getting closer.

"HEY! OVER HERE!" I shouted, trying to turn Denys' attention to us before he got Katrina removed from the tournament. She was a good fighter, we'd need her later on.

"He's not stupid, Cato. He won't look around for that. And besides, he's _mine_. I'm going to throw my knife into his eye so hard that it'll go through his armour and they'll never get it out!" She sneered.

"Calm down, Clovey." I grinned. "HEY DENYS! MALINDA WAS A SHIT SHOOTER!" I yelled.

"What did you just say?!" He turned away from Katrina, eyes narrowed. We were only a few metres away from him now. He picked up his bow and notched an arrow. He pointed it at my head. In turn, Clove pulled a knife from her belt and aimed at his throat. It was a stalemate. Nobody said anything until Denys opened his mouth.

"She's the best female shooter in the whole of School One!"

"That wasn't good enough though, was it Denys? Maybe she'd still be in the tournament if you were both better." I smirked. I could tell from the expression on his face that I was hitting all the right weak points.

"Shut up." He whispered.

"If it wasn't for you, Malinda might have brought honour and pride to your school. You're a failure." I sneered. Denys growled and let his arrow fly. I ducked and it whizzed over my head. So fast I barely saw her move, Clove flung her knife at Denys. It cut straight through his bow string and stuck in his shoulder. I hear a faint _crack _and knew that she had cracked his shoulder bone. He screamed in pain and sprinted off in the direction of the woods. I started to follow him, but Clove rested her hand on my shoulder.

"Let him go. We have to deal with Katrina and I have a few questions to ask you, anyway."


	23. The TTE Finale

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( I'm going to try and make this chapter longer than all the others because I want to fit in the interview in this chapter. :)**

"So, what did you want to ask me about?" Cato asked once we had gotten the unconscious Katrina settled inside the mouth of the Cornucopia with a wet cloth pressed to her forehead.

"Oh, just something that's been bothering me." I said, rubbing my arms nervously. I was sat down with my back against the wall of the Cornucopia.

"Yeah? Well in that case I'm all ears, Clovey." He smiled, sitting down next to me.

"That day in the park…Well on the way home, Johanna told me that you were one of those guys that went from girl to girl and didn't really give a shit about how they felt." I blurted.

"Like…A man whore?" He frowned.

"Yeah. She told me that you went from her to Cecilia to Glimmer. And I've been told that you've dated _loads _of girls. Enobaria, Cashmere, Foxface, Madge…Loads." I sighed, closing my eyes. It probably wasn't the best idea to bring this up in the middle of the arena.

"Does any of that bother you?" He asked.

"Well, no. I just wanted to hear your side of it all." I responded. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, his face was completely blank.

"It's true. I've been with a lot of girls and people judged me because of it. But Clove, I was with them before I met you. If I had known you from the start of Mockingjay High, who knows what kind of person I could've been?" He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I don't mind that much. I mean, you only live once, right?" I said, smirking. Cato looked at me with horror.

"Clove Fuhrman, don't you dare go all 'YOLO' on me."

"I'll try not to." I laughed. Cato let out a small laugh as well, before taking one of my hands in his. We sat like that in silence for a while until we heard a familiar voice.

"_Fuck_. My head's throbbing like a bitch." Katrina sat up, clutching her head. I couldn't help but smile as I rolled my eyes. I rummaged through our medical supplies. I found what I was looking for and tossed her the small container of pills.

"Painkillers. Take two." She obediently popped two of the blue pills into her mouth, washing them down with some water.

"Attention contestants! Attention!" The voice of Claudius Templesmith, the tournament announcer, barrelled into our heads. We all ran outside to try and hear the announcement better.

"There will be a feast. It will start when the sky turns light tomorrow morning. As you probably know, there are ten of you left. There will be four packs available, each one containing an object that could win you and your school partner, or just you, this tournament. Thank you, and may the odds be ever in your favour!"

"Well, that sign off was incredibly…gay." **(*) **Cato said. Katrina thumped him on the shoulder, earning her a glare from me.

"There are eleven of us. If I split from you guys now, there'll be eight teams competing for a pack." Katrina shouldered her rucksack.

"Why should we just let you go? We could remove you now and save us the hassle later." Cato narrowed his eyes at her.

"Because I'll find the girl from School Eight. I'll get her, and then you'll be the only pair left."

"Deal." I said before Cato could say anything. He spun around to glare at me.

"Clove, think about this. She's a strong competitor. We should just take her out right now." He was stood facing me with his back to Katrina and the forest. I watched her as she jogged away, mace in hand.

"We can take her out later on. There's one of her and two of us. If she takes down the girl from Eight, we'll be the only pair. Nobody will be able to stop us." I reasoned. For someone who was so good with strategies, he was being pretty dumb about this.

"We can beat those two from Eight easily. If we were to take her out now, we won't have to worry about her." He turned away from me, sword drawn to remove Katrina from the tournament. She was long gone, hunting down the girl from School Eight.

"Where is she?"

"Gone. Hunting down the girl from Eight, I guess."

"I thought we'd agreed to leave the strategies to me and the sponsors to you?" He asked. He sounded kind of hurt, but I don't think anyone else would've picked up on it.

"We did. That wasn't strategy. That was common sense." I pointed out. I mentally slapped myself when I saw the look on his face. It was a mix of hurt and anger.

"So now you don't trust me _and _you think I'm stupid." Cato glared at me again before walking into the Cornucopia.

"Cato, I never said that!" I ran after him.

"But you implied it. Goodnight, Clove." He got in his sleeping bag and turned on his side so he was facing the wall. Sighing, I climbed into my own.

"Goodnight, Cato. I love you." I said, hoping for a reply that I knew wouldn't come. I heard a cannon go off as I was drifting off and smiled to myself. Katrina wasn't so bad.

-Line Break-

"Wake up. The feast starts soon and we need to talk strategy. Unless, of course, you already have something planned out in that genius head of yours." Cato snapped, shaking my shoulder to wake me.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? Can you just drop it now?" I sighed.

"You're really not helping yourself, Clove." He glared at me for what the felt like the hundredth time in two days.

"Just get over your stupid bruised ego and _tell me the fucking plan_!" I yelled. He was really starting to get on my nerves.

"Why? Why tell you the plan when you clearly don't trust me enough to make a good one? And you think I'm stupid man whore, anyway." He looked away from me, clearly pained by the words he thought I'd implied.

"I don't think any of those things, Cato. I trust you more than any of my friends, maybe even more than Lydia. I don't think you're a man whore, I just think you made a few bad choices and I knowthat you're not stupid. So stop obsessing over what I _didn't _say and start listening to what I _am _saying!" I poked him in the shoulder twice. Before I could poke him again he caught my hand in his and pulled me in for a kiss. I didn't hesitate in kissing him back.

"I'm sorry. I overreacted." Cato said when he pulled away. He gently stroked my hand and I smiled.

"It's okay." I said.

"No it isn't. I upset you, that's not okay. I just want you to know that I've changed. I'm not who I used to be and you can trust me."

"I know that. And I'll always trust you." I gave him a peck on the lips. "So, the plan?"

"Right. I was thinking, we get there first, grab a pack and hid near the packs. Anyone that tries to grab one will have to deal with us."

"That's a good idea." I smiled up at him and he smiled back.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go get in position." I followed Cato outside and we surveyed the area. For the first time, I noticed a thin grey rectangle in the ground.

"That must be where the table will appear from." I said, pointing at it. Cato nodded and hid inside the mouth of the cornucopia, shielded from view by large boxes of supplies I hid in a bush next to where the table would appear from, ready to grab a pack. A few minutes later I heard Cato whistling. I tried to ignore it, but after twenty minutes I snapped.

"Cato, shut up. You whistle like a dying cat." I whisper-shouted.

"Dying cats can't whistle."

"Just shh!" I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't hear me. About ten minutes later, he started whistling again.

"Cato!" I growled.

"Sorry, habit." Five minutes later, he started humming. I pulled a knife out of my belt and flung it at one of the boxes he was hid behind.

"Well, that was uncalled for." Before I could reply, the ground inside the rectangle opened up and the table, holding five identical packs, entered the arena the same way we had at the start of the tournament. Before the table had even stopped moving, I grabbed a pack and tossed it to Cato. He hid it inside one of the boxes before we went back to hiding.

The first contestant to try and take a pack was the girl from Nine. I let her get within four feet of the table before I threw a knife at her neck. A cannon fired and she disappeared. I decided not to retrieve my knife because it would give away my position. After a few more minutes of waiting, I decided it was okay to go and get it. As soon as I climbed out of the bushes, and arrow went whizzing past my face. I stumbled backwards slightly, dazed. I recovered and dived forwards, scooping up my knife and then standing again. My eyes scanned the first line of trees in the forest.

That was when they charged.

The girls from Seven and Ten and the boys from Eight and Twelve came sprinting out of the forest. The two girls were carrying knifes. The boy from Eight had a sword and the boy from Twelve had an axe. I could see a bow poking out from behind a tree. _Denys_.

"Shit." I heard Cato mutter. He jumped out from behind the boxes. "Guard the table; don't let anyone get to the packs!" I nodded in response as he ran up the sand, meeting the boy from Eight with his sword. The clashing noise their weapons made when they met rang around the trees. I was so busy watching their fight that I didn't even _see _the girl from School Ten running up next to me. She slammed into me and we went crashing onto the floor. We rolled around for a while, but eventually I pinned her down, my knees on her shoulders. I raised my knife.

"The armours strong, you know. But this knife can break a few bones." I sneered. I was just about to start on shoulder when an image of Joey and my mangled wrist appeared in my head.

"You're lucky you caught me in a good mood." I said, shaking the images from my head. I brought the knife down over her heart and she disappeared as her cannon sounded. She must have been a distraction, because then I caught sight of the girl from Seven sprinting away from the table with one of the packs in her hand. I threw a knife at her, hitting her square in the back. She disappeared, taking the pack with her. Smirking, I turned to face the boy from Twelve. I raised a knife and he tried to run, but I hit him in the back of the neck. He disappeared to the same place his school partner ended up in. I think they end up back in their school when they disappear. Cato finished off the boy from Eight and walked over to me, breathing hard.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" I smirked.

"Don't get too cocky. Katrina and Denys are watching us from the trees, somewhere." Cato narrowed his eyes, scanning the line of trees for any sign for the contestants. An arrow seemed to appear from nowhere, heading straight for his throat. I pushed him down before it could make its mark.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me just yet." More arrows fired, one after the other. We ran around, desperately dodging them.

"We'll wait him out! He's got to run out at some point!" Cato yelled to me over the sound of whizzing arrows. I nodded and hit the ground, narrowly avoiding an arrow to the eye. I rolled and shot up to stand on my feet. Lying down would get me an arrow in the face. After a few more minutes of dodging arrows, I grew impatient.

"Cato, he's clearly got generous sponsors! We can't just keep dodging his arrows like this, we have to do something!"

"Okay. On the count of three, you run diagonally left into the forest and I'll run right. He can't shoot in both directions at once!" He yelled.

"Okay."

"One…" An arrow skimmed his ear.

"Two…" I jumped over a poorly shot arrow that would've hit my ankle.

"Three!" We both charged to the tree line. I went up and left at the same time Cato went up and right. Once we were in the forest, we had the safety of the trees. Denys wouldn't be able to get a clear shot of us. From where I was stood, I could see Cato sneaking up on him, sword drawn. Denys spun around at the last moment and knocked the sword out of Cato's hand with his bow. They started to take swings at each other and I almost snorted. Nobody could take Cato in a fist fight.

"Well, what do we have here? My old ally, I do believe." I turned around at the sound of Katrina's voice.

"Hello, Katrina." I smiled, trying not to give away the fact that I was desperately trying to think up a plan.

"You and Cato did a good job taking those five others out. Saved me the effort." She smirked and pulled her mace free from her belt.

"Oh I wouldn't want you to strain yourself for our last fight, Katrina." I smirked back, pulling out a knife that was almost the same length as Cato's sword.

"Course not." Our weapons made a screeching sound as they met. She slashed at me with her pointed mace and I stepped backwards easily.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Katrina." I smiled kind of evilly. She grunted and stabbed at me. This time, I jumped to the left and brought my knife hilt down on her temple. She collapsed on the ground, but she took a swing at my feet. I jumped and pinned her down on the sandy floor. I was just about to bring my knife down over her eye when she threw sand at me. It went in my eyes and mouth. I tried to get it out of my eyes and she took the opportunity to flip us over.

"I think I'll have some fun with this." She grinned and grabbed my wrist. I squeezed my eyes shut at the contact before opening them again. She spread my hand out.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Clove, but the hands are the only part of the body not protected by the body armour. Am I right? Of course I'm right." She let out an evil laugh and pulled a knife out of her belt. She slit my palm open and I hissed in pain. She laughed again.

"You're not good enough for the TTE. No wonder Johnny targeted you." She sneered. I froze, eyes widened.

"What did you just say?!" I hissed.

"My cousin, Johnny. He told me about you. I'm going to drag this whole thing out just for him. I'll snap bones you forget you even had."

"He won't remember you. I made sure of that." She dropped her knife, confused. I picked it up and drove it into her neck. She screamed before she disappeared and a cannon sounded. I stood, brushing the sand off of my back. Cato had Denys in a headlock and was trying to reach for his sword. I tossed him my knife and he caught it on one hand. He drove it into the armour around Denys' heart and he disappeared as his cannon fired. Cato stood up, stretched, and walked over to me.

"Ladies and Gentleman may I present to you the victors of the annual TTE, Cato Ludwig and Clove Fuhrman!" Claudius Templesmith yelled. We heard the roar of the New York audience and Cato grinned t me.

"We won, Clove." He went to take my hand but noticed the cut. "Shit, that's a deep cut. You might need stitches." He ripped off part of his shirt and wrapped it around my hand.

"Thanks." I smiled, happy to be going home. I missed Katniss and my parents. I even missed my crazy little sister.

"It should hold up until we get out of this place." He kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm glad I won with you, Cato."

-Line Break-

"So, Clove. What are your feelings on this year's contestants for the TTE?" Caesar Flickerman asked me. Cato and I were sat on a couch on stage for our victor's interview. I was wearing a deep purple dress that reached my knees and was the same colour as Cato's tie. We had been asked way too many questions, but we only had a few minutes left.

"Well, Katrina was a great ally at first. I kind of hate her now." The audience chuckled as I held out my hand. It was bandaged, covering up the gash. It had taken ten stitches to seal the wound and the scar would last forever.

"I'm not surprised. What about you, Cato? Any thoughts?"

"Denys was a bastard." He grinned. The audience laughed again as he rubbed his black eye.

"Last question. Who is this 'Johnny' that Katrina mentioned, Clove?" Caesar asked. I froze. I couldn't talk about this on live television, it was way too painful.

"You don't have to answer that." Cato whispered in my ear. Caesar watched us for a few long seconds, waiting for an answer.

"Well…I guess that's all we have time for today. We'll be looking forward to next year's TTE! See you then, folks!"

"And we're off air!" One of the camera men shouted. I slipped out of my heels, pushed past Caesar and ran off of the stage.

Interviews suck.

***I have nothing against gay people. WOW long chapter, almost 3100 words including the authors note. I hope you enjoyed it and understand why I didn't have it all written yesterday, this is the longest chapter I've ever written. :)**


	24. I Remember That Now!

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( A special Halloween chapter for you. :) Also, CatoAndCloveMeantToBe's OC, Becca, will feature in this chapter! YAY. Warning: There is a drunken Clove and sexual references in this chapter. I feel so posh saying that. :)**

"I don't know Marla; it's a bit… short." I said, looking at myself in the mirror. It had been six days since Cato and I had won the TTE. It was Halloween, the night before Marla had to leave. Her cousin was holding a house party and had let Marla invite whoever she wanted. It was open invite though, so the whole school would probably turn up. I was wearing a red pencil dress that came to about ten inches above my thigh and black devil horns. I had my phone and keys strapped around my wrist in a red purse that was shaped like a pitchfork. My hair hung loose for once, instead of being up in its usual ponytail.

"Trust me, you look great." Marla was wearing a black and yellow stripy dress that reached her knees and bee wings on her back.

"She's right; you look like a sexy devil." Katniss was wearing a grey t-shirt that had 'Witch' written on it in big writing and denim shorts. She was carrying a small broom and wearing a black witch hat.

"I wanted to be a zombie." I muttered, frowning slightly. Marla rolled her eyes, but Katniss looked kind of sympathetic. They both knew I felt uncomfortable, but Marla would just tell me to put up with it if I expressed how I felt.

"I still don't understand why I can't come." Lydia grumbled from her bed. She was sat up with her laptop perched on her legs. "I would've made an _awesome _skeleton."

"You're thirteen!" I pointed out.

"I'm almost fourteen, Clove."

"That's not the point. You're thirteen and there'll be alcohol around. I don't want you near it." I was kind of protective, but after what Joey I had a right to be.

"You're seventeen, so you'll be drinking underage!" She protested.

"By, like, four years! You're _eight _years under the limit!"

"So?" I ignored her after that.

"We should probably leave now if we want to get there by half past nine." Katniss said, checking the time on her phone.

"Right. Goodbye, Lydia. Don't do anything stupid." I said. She rolled her eyes, nodded, and plugged her headphones in. Our parents were in, but because they had busy jobs they were probably either working or sleeping. I locked the front door behind us and we climbed into Katniss' car. She was the designated driver; she had pulled the short straw. We arrived at Marla's cousins' house in less than fifteen minutes. We could hear the music thumping as we pulled up in the driveway, only a few minutes late. Marla had two cousins that lived there. Becca Williamson and her younger sister Lindsey. Becca was sixteen going on seventeen and Lindsey was fifteen going on sixteen. Marla knocked on the door impatiently.

"Hey, Becca! Open the damn door, I forgot my key!" She shouted through the mail flap.

"Jesus, Marla. I was just coming." A girl wearing a black cat suit with whiskers painted on her face opened the door. She was pretty, with long, curly black hair.

"Yeah, whatever. This is Clove and Katniss." Marla introduced us.

"And Cato." I turned my head at the sound of his voice. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me on the cheek.

"Hey there, devil woman." He said. I laughed and swatted his arm. He was wearing a black cape and fake fangs.

"Whatever, vampire man." I rolled my eyes. He released my waist and took my right hand instead.

"I'm Becca." She winked at Cato, no longer acknowledging the rest of us.

"She's a bit…Evil. And Glimmer-like." Marla whispered in my ear. I mentally face-palmed. We made our way inside the house and into the kitchen. Becca gave us all bottles of some kind of alcohol I didn't even recognize.

"Don't drink too many of these. You'll go off your head drunk." She said before leaving the room. I sipped my drink. It burned my tongue and the back of my throat when I swallowed, but it tasted good. I went to take another sip, but Cato stopped me.

"Slowly. If you drink it quickly you'll get drunk faster." He advised.

"We just won the TTE, Cato. I'm here to have a little fun." I smiled at him before chugging back the rest of the drink and helping myself to another bottle.

-Line Break-

"Clove, I'm taking you home." Katniss said firmly. "How many of those drinks have you had?"

"I don't know. Five? Four?" I stopped counting after my second. I was kind of a lightweight; I didn't take alcohol very well which is why I didn't usually drink.

"For fuck's sake, Clove! That's sweetened rum! You probably won't remember half this night. I'm _definitely _taking you home."

"No!" I ran away from her, the room only swaying slightly. "Cato!" I yelled when I saw him. I jumped into his arms. If he didn't have fast reflexes, he probably would have dropped me.

"Um, hey Clove." He said, looking at me weirdly when I started to stroke his face. "Is she okay?" He asked Katniss.

"She's drunk." Katniss sighed. "Carry her to the car?"

"Sure. I told you to go easy on the alcohol, Clovey. Let's get you home." He shook his head, smiling faintly.

"When are we going to have sex? We haven't had sex yet." I pouted. Cato's eyes widened slightly and his cheeks glowed red.

"Um…"

"I'm just messing around. You're cute when you blush." I glanced over at Katniss. She was trying, and failing, to stifle a laugh.

"Don't laugh at Cato because he's not getting any!" I frowned.

"Oh, I wasn't." She smirked. We reached her car and she opened the back door. Cato laid me down on the back seat a shut the door.

"Now it's my turn to get _really_ drunk." He grinned. They were the last words I heard before I passed out in Katniss' car.

-Line Break-

I woke up in my own bed with a pounding headache. Groaning, I sat up.

"Remember much?" Katniss asked. She was sat on the foot of my bed, logging into her Facebook on my laptop.

"How do you know my password?"

"You talk in your sleep. What do you remember from last night?" She asked again.

"Just before I passed out, I remember Cato telling you he was going to get really drunk. Before that, I remember…Oh my God."

"You've just remembered what you said to Cato about sex, didn't you?" She smirked.

"Kill me now, please." I groaned again. Katniss laughed and went back to skimming through her Facebook feed.

"Look, someone posted pictures." She said, pointing to an album labelled '_Hot Halloween Party!_' I looked away, too embarrassed to see what kind of pictures of me had been posted. Katniss gasped when she saw one of the pictures.

"What is it?" I asked, expecting the worst. She turned the laptop around so the screen was facing me and I could see the picture clearly. What I was expecting was nothing compared to what the picture actually was. Cato, clearly drunk, was sat on the couch with his hands up Becca's shirt and his mouth on hers.

"I…" I didn't know what to say. I snapped the laptop shut and shoved it off of the bed. It didn't break when it hit the carpet, but I wouldn't have cared if it did.

"I'm so sorry, Clove. I know that you love him." Katniss said, looking awkward like she didn't know what to say.

"I'm going to call that son of a bitch." I reached under my bed for my phone. I remember throwing it there when I regained consciousness right before passing out again. I pressed my speed dial number for him.

"Clove? What do you want, babe? It's seven o'clock!" Cato said when he answered, yawning.

"How's Becca? Hung-over?" I asked.

"What? Did you call me up at seven o'clock just to ask me if some girl drank too much?" He sounded irritated, like he had no idea what I was talking about.

"I was just wondering if she was lying next to you right now. Or is making out the only thing you did when I was _unconscious_?" I snapped.

"What the hell have you been taking? I didn't make out with Becca!"

"That's not what the pictures seem to show." I narrowed my eyes even though he couldn't actually see me.

"I have no idea what you're on about." He sighed. "I'm coming over. Give me two minutes." I hung up and tossed my phone onto my pillow.

"What a dick! He denied it!" I said, rubbing my eyes wearily.

"Clooove. Shushhh. Tirrrrred." Lydia mumbled into her pillow. Groggily, she sat up. She paled when she saw the expression I was wearing. I was pulling my I'm-so-pissed-off-I-might-go-stab-a-wall look.

"Sorry." I snapped sarcastically.

"What's wrong?" She asked, looking concerned. Last time I had that look on my face I almost blew up a house. Before I could answer, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." I frowned. I jumped up from my bed. When I realised I still had my dress on from last night, I pulled a robe on and tied the belt around my middle. I stomped into the hallway and almost pulled the door off of its hinges when I opened it. I grabbed Cato by the collar and pulled him inside. I slammed the door behind him and dragged him by the ear into my room.

"Ow! Clove, ow!" He swatted my hand away and glared at me. "What the hell was that for? And what were you talking about on the phone?"

"You really don't remember?" I asked. When he shook his head, I picked up my laptop from where I pushed it earlier. I flipped the top open, typed in my password and spun it round so he could see the picture.

"Shit. I remember that now." He said, running a hand through his hair.

"Get out." I pushed the laptop to one side.

"Clove, please. I was _drunk_. You can't blame me for that!" He protested as I shoved him.

"Yes I can! I was drunk too, Cato and I didn't make out with some random guy!" I yelled.

"Clove, I-"

"Get out! I don't want to see your stupid face ever again! I hope that whore sucks it right off next time!" I shoved him again.

"There won't be a next time!" He promised. I pulled the front door open and pushed him outside. Before I could slam it, he put his foot in the gap. He winced when the door made contact with his foot.

"Move your damn foot, Cato!" I yelled. I tried to slam the door again but his foot didn't budge.

"Listen to me, Clove. I love you. I barely even know Becca. That never would've happened if I wasn't drunk, you know that!" He said, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Move your fucking foot or I'll break it." I said coldly, glaring at him.

"No. Not until you listen to me."

"LYDIA!" I shouted. "CAN YOU, UM, 'ESCORT' THIS DICKHEAD OFF THE PREMISES PLEASE?"

"Coming, Clove!"

"You wouldn't." Cato looked genuinely afraid. I'm not surprised, Lydia can be pretty terrifying.

"I just did." I smirked.

"What's the problem?" Lydia came and stood next to me.

"He cheated on me with some slut and now he won't leave." I said. Anger blazed in Lydia's eyes. I was protective of her, but she was _way _more protective of me in situations like this. She grabbed one of my knives off of the table in the hallway and pulled the door fully open.

"I'm sorry!" Cato yelled as he sprinted off down the driveway with Lydia hot on his heels. She chased him down the street until I couldn't see them anymore.

"You okay, Clove?" I turned around at the sound of Katniss' voice.

"I will be. I just want to be alone right now, though." I answered honestly.

"Okay, I understand. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, course." I smiled.

"I have an awesome revenge plan, but I'll need to talk to Madge and Peeta." She grinned and I knew it wasn't going to be good for me, but it would be terrible for Cato. Before I could ask her what her plan was, she waved goodbye and walked over to her car. I watched her drive away and then closed the door. I leaned against it and took a deep breath.

_I am Clove Fuhrman. I do not cry. I am tough. I am strong. I am brave. I am Clove Fuhrman. I do not cry._

I replayed the words in my head, but it was no use. For the first time in years, I cried over a guy.


	25. Liar

**This chapter has slight Gale/Madge in it, even though I'm team Gale/Katniss because that's what most readers prefer. I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**One Week Later:**

"Are you sure about this?" I asked.

"Of course! The look on his face will be _priceless_." Madge answered. We were both wearing purple and gold cheerleading outfits for the basketball game in half an hour. Cato was the captain of the basketball team, so he'd definitely be playing. Madge was the captain of the cheerleading squad so she'd pulled a few strings and managed to get me into the squad as co-captain for one game only. I'd done gymnastics until I was fourteen, so I would be at the top of the pyramid and flipping about all over the place. The idea was that Cato would be seeing exactly what he was missing out on when he saw me in the spotlight wearing a short skirt and shirt that ended at my bellybutton.

"Okay. Anything to put that jerk in place." I smirked. Madge grinned at me and we walked outside together. It kind of hurt me to say these things about Cato, but I had to get people to think that was coping just fine without him. So, when I was in public I was strong and happy, but when I got home every day I would crawl into bed and cry because I loved him. I still do. But if I told people I'd cried they'd use it against me for sure. If he hadn't cheated on me, we would undoubtedly still be together. I thought I'd been a bit harsh on him, but I couldn't just take him back. He probably wouldn't be able to look at me in the same way after what Lydia did to him. When she had come back after chasing him down the street, she had bloody knuckles. She hadn't stabbed Cato like I'd expected, but he had a black eye for three days. He told people that he'd gotten into a fight with a guy that tried to mug him. He was probably too embarrassed to tell people what really happened. I could've been evil and told everyone that a thirteen year old girl did that to him, but I didn't.

"Okay, girls. Everybody knows the half-time routine so do some warm ups, yeah?" Madge instructed. The rest of the girls started doing stretches and jogging around the basketball court. I did some leg stretches with Madge, Annie and Foxface and then did two laps of the court. I really needed to pick up long distance running again.

"Hey, Clove." I turned around at the sound of a voice behind me. Allan, one of Cato's friends, was sat in the bleachers with his sister Alexia.

"Um, hey Allan. Alexia." I greeted them, confused. The rest of Cato's friends, Marvel, Brutus, Enobaria, Glimmer, Cashmere, Gloss, Lyme, Cecilia, Woof and half the students at Mockingjay High all hated me for breaking up with him. Why would they be talking to me when the others just ignored me or shoved me?"

"Allan! Alexia! Why are you talking to her?" Glimmer yelled from across the court. Her cheerleading skirt was about three inches shorter than everyone else's.

"Because-"

"You know what she did to Cato! She broke his heart! I, on the other hand, would never have done that to him." I could feel her glaring at the back of my head, but I wasn't going to turn around just to talk to Glimmer.

"I'm here because he dragged me here. I still hate her." Alexia said, looking at me like I was an infected cut.

"I'm talking to her because I don't think that she did anything wrong. So go away, Glimmer." Allan said. Alexia snorted before jumping down from the bleachers and going over to Glimmer, probably to gossip about me. Allan stood up and walked over to the railing that separated the seats from the court.

"You don't hate me?" I asked.

"No. He made out with another girl while he was in a relationship with you. He did the wrong thing; you did the _right _thing by breaking up with him." Allan smiled at me, a warm smile that made me believe that he was the only one of Cato's friends that was actually nice.

"Well, thank you. Somebody that understands." I smiled back.

"I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat after school tomorrow." He asked.

"Um, I just got out of a relationship and-"

"Not as a date or anything. You seem like a nice girl and I want to get to know you, as a friend." He said, blushing slightly.

"Sure, that'll be great. We can go as soon as school ends." I smiled again and he nodded. "I have to go now; Madge needs to give me my pompoms." I waved and walked over to Madge.

"ALEXIA! GET OFF THE FUCKING COURT!" I heard Madge yell. I jogged over to her.

"I think you need to calm down, Madge." I said, patting her on the shoulder.

"Sorry, I just hate her so much. She's been all over Gale this year. Can't she see he's not interested?" Madge glared at Alexia as she made her way onto the bleachers.

"You like Gale?" I asked, confused. She hid her emotions well, because I thought that she hated him.

"Well, kind of." She blushed and shoved two purple pompoms into my hands. "Here. Just do a few flips or handstands or whatever when we're introduced." She said. She blew her whistle and we all sat down on the bench. By now, the bleachers were full of people.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the first game of the season. Playing today we have the home team, The WV Mockingjays and the away team, The WV Trackerjackers!" The audience cheered a little as the away team ran onto the basketball court. When the home team ran onto the court, led by Cato, the audience cheered and screamed like there was no tomorrow.

"And here we have the Mockingjay High cheerleading squad, lead my Miss Madge Undersee! Stepping in for Delly Cartwright as co-captain today we have Miss Clove Fuhrman!" The announcer yelled. We all stood up. Some of the cheerleaders did handstands or cartwheels. Madge and I did the standing splits before returning to our seats. We both laughed when we looked over at Cato. He looked shocked, but couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from me. He knew this was something I'd never usually do.

"Darlin', I think his eyes just popped out of his head." Madge whispered in my ear. We laughed and watched the game as it began.

-Line Break-

When half-time came around, the WV Mockingjays were losing 16-20. The players took a break and it was time for us to do our routine. We moved into the middle of the court, facing the crowd. We got into the pyramid position, with me on top. The music started and I jumped off, doing a flip in the air. There were only ten of us in total, so it wasn't far to the ground. The others did flips and the four on the bottom moved into the splits. Madge and I did cartwheels while the others did whatever is they were meant to do. When I was told what to do earlier today, I only really took a notice of what Madge, Annie and I would be doing. Annie and I took a stance with our arms stretched out in front of us, palms facing the ceiling. Madge flipped through the air and landed with her feet on our hands. We tossed her and she landed in front of us. The three of us went into the splits and then did double roly-polies. Because there were ten of us, one of the cheerleaders yelled,

"M!" Another yelled

"O!"

"C!"

"K!"

"I!"

"N!"

"G!"

"J!" Madge shouted.

"A" Annie yelled.

"Y!" I yelled, looking directly at Cato and mouthing it again. He mouthed back 'I was drunk', causing me to roll my eyes as I flipped backwards, behind the row of cheerleaders. We all went into handstands and the music stopped. When I stood on my feet again, I was out of breath.

"Cheerleading's hard." I moaned.

"You're telling me." Annie laughed as we made our way back to the bench. We sat down and I started to glug water from my sports bottle like I'd been stuck in the Sahara desert for a week.

"Why are you doing this, Clove?" I turned my head at the sound of Cato's voice in my ear. He was leaning over the railing of the bleachers, whispering in my ear.

"Doing what?" I asked calmly, acting like my insides weren't melting when I felt his hot breath on my neck.

"Showing up at my game looking all hot and doing flips and stuff." He answered, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"I was just filling in as co-captain because Delly couldn't make the game." I said innocently.

"Liar." He grinned.

"You keep telling yourself that, Cato." I patted him lightly on the cheek. "By the way, do you always play like this? You're doing terribly." It was true; he'd been knocked over, like, three times.

"Actually, no. I'm not playing well today because my head's not in the game. Want to know why?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow, a sign for him to carry on. He leaned in closer to my ear and exhaled gently, sending a shiver down my spine. "Because I'm working out how to win my girlfriend back."

"Maybe a kiss would help your game." I smirked.

"I'm sure it would." He leaned in even closer, this time towards to my lips. I pointed to the small group of teenagers from the opposing school.

"Well, Becca's over there. Go get your kiss." I turned away from Cato and ignored his attempts to talk to me after that. Eventually, The WV Mockingjays won the game, but I wasn't keeping score. I was too busy dying on the inside as I watched Becca winking at Cato every five minutes.

**I wrote another Clato oneshot, it's sad but not as sad as the last one I wrote. I promise you I'll write a happy one as soon as I come up with a good idea. Also, I have another idea for a fic that's like a contest between Clove and Glimmer and the prize is Cato. Should I write that first after I finish this or shall I write this fics sequel before the other fic? I said fic three times in those two sentences. :)**


	26. What The Hell Do You Think You're Doing?

**I don't own The Hunger Games. I went through and read this fic, and oh my God I need to start proof reading it properly. :L There's so many grammar mistakes!**

**Cato's POV:**

When the bell signalising the end of the day sounded, I practically sprinted out of my American History class. I just felt an urge to get out of there. I'd been unsubtly staring at Clove all lesson. I felt like such a dick for what I'd done to her. I kept playing the 'I was Drunk' card, but that wasn't really a good excuse. I honestly felt terrible, mainly for her but for me as well. By hurting her, I'd hurt myself. I swear I'm never going to get that drunk again. I walked quickly to my locker, eager to put my books away and get out of the damn building.

"Dude." Marvel said, opening his locker which was next to mine. "Enough with the staring at Fuhrman, already. There's plenty more fish in the sea."

"But she was like…Rainbow fish." I protested, shoving the text book into my locker and slamming it shut.

"Well I hate to break it to you man, but she's got a date tonight." Marvel sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

"_What_?" I snarled.

"I heard that Allan and she are going out for dinner like, _now_. There she is." Marvel pointed down the corridor. I turned my head to watch them walking together. They were laughing at something Allan must have said. Normally seeing Clove smile like that would've made my heart melt, not that I'd ever admit to that. But knowing that it was some other guy making her smile instead of me just made my blood boil. They walked right by me and Marvel, and then Allan slipped his hand into Clove's. That did it for me. I grabbed Allan by the collar and slammed him into the wall of lockers like Clove had once done to Glimmer.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Allan?" I hissed.

"Whoa, man. Calm down!" He said, holding his hands up in surrender. I pulled him away from the lockers and slammed him into them again. He winced in pain.

"Maybe I should rephrase that. What do you think you're doing with _my _girl?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Cato, let go of him! I'm not your girl!" Clove yelled, shaking my shoulder. I dropped Allan and spun around to face her.

"You may not be my girlfriend anymore Clove, but I'll make sure that no guy in this school _ever _goes after you." I promised.

"You don't own me, Cato! I can do what I want, with whoever I want!" She protested, loudly. As if to prove her point she stepped forward, grabbed Allan by the shoulders and kissed him. It was just a peck on the lips, but it tore my heart to pieces.

"Clove…" I trailed off.

"I'm leaving now. Don't come after me. _Either _of you." She glared at me, turned on her heel and ran off down the corridor.

"You'd better watch out, fish boy." I glared at Allan before running after Clove.

**Clove's POV:**

Oh God. What have I done? I don't even like Allan like that; I kissed him just to show Cato that I could. I hated to admit it, but I felt kind of pleased when Cato slammed Allan into the lockers. It showed me that he cared. But even if I was going to take him back, he wouldn't want me now. Not after what just happened. I sighed as I pushed open the doors and ran out of the school. I wasn't watching where I was going and ran straight into Becca.

"Watch where you're going, loser!" She sneered at me, desperately trying to straighten out her hair again.

"What are _you _doing here?" I frowned. She was the last person I wanted see, especially today.

"I'm here to see Cato. He invited me here." She smirked. Okay, maybe I was wrong. He clearly doesn't care about me anymore if he invited that whore here.

"Well, leave." I folded my arms across my chest and glared at her.

"Make me." She folded her own arms and glared right back. It was like one of those old Wild West movies, and I half expected tumbleweeds to drift along the concrete ground between us.

"Bitch, I can do that." I stepped towards her but somebody caught my wrist. I turned round, directing my glare at Cato. He dropped my wrist, but not my gaze.

"Clove, don't punch her. She's not worth it." He said.

"She's not worth it? Or you don't want to have to kiss a bruised face?" I snapped. Hurt flashed in his eyes, but it faded quickly.

"I don't like her." He muttered.

"Then why did you try to suck her fucking face off?!"

"Because I'm prettier than you. Cato deserves someone more…Like me." I didn't notice that Becca was stood directly behind me until she spoke. I kicked, getting her square in the stomach.

"_Oof_! You bitch!" She screamed and swung at me. I jumped sideways and her fist connected with Cato's chest. He flinched slightly, but made no other movement.

"I think you should leave, Becca. Before Clove beats the shit out of you." He said. I held back a laugh, knowing that if I let it out I would break and run straight into his arms.

"But you invited me here!" She protested.

"No, I didn't! Why would I invite _you _here?" He sounded pretty disgusted.

"Because." She turned to face me and leaned closer, threateningly. "I'm better than this stupid, fat loser. I'm prettier, I'm more popular. I'm _better_." She sneered. Cato shoved her, hard enough that she stepped back a few paces but not so hard that she fell over.

"You realise none of that's true, right? Clove will always be better than you. Now, leave." He said. His voice was calm, so I knew that he was just trying to control his anger at the moment. However, if she didn't get the hell out of here soon, he'd snap her like a toothpick.

"You'll come around. They always do." She said and then walked away. I waited until she was out of earshot before saying,

"I can fight my own battles, Cato."

"I know that. But I wasn't going to let her get away with that. Besides, you'd have got suspended if you'd decked her." He smirked.

"How did you know I was going to deck her?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I know you, Clovey." He smirked again and I resisted the urge to slap him.

"Only people that care about me get to call me Clovey."

"Okay then, Clovey." He grinned.

"That means you call me _Clove_, jerk." I rolled my eyes at him.

"You're blind if you can't see that I care about you, Clove." He said, all traces of jokiness gone from his expression.

"Yeah, that photo must have blinded me." I spat. Only a few students remained, and they were slowly starting to leave. Soon we'd be the only people here.

"Clove, I know I hurt you pretty badly. I hurt myself, too. All I'm asking for is another chance." He looked so torn up that I just wanted to hug him.

"I can't give you that." I whispered. Giving in now would show weakness and I am _not _weak.

"Please?"

"No!" I lost it and started yelling at him. "You fucked up, Cato! When people fuck up, they don't get a second chance! I fucked up by telling Joey about my wrist, and I didn't even get a second chance to tell him goodbye! So give me one good reason why I should give you a second chance, because to be honest I'm struggling to find one!" Breathing heavily, I watched him for a moment. He looked like he was thinking, but then he stepped forward and took my face in his hands. He kissed me and I ran my hands through his hair, kissing him back. It felt good, kissing him after a week of avoiding him. When his tongue slid into my mouth, I pulled back.

"Goodbye, Cato. Don't bother me again." A tear made its way down my cheek and I made no attempt to wipe it away, so Cato wiped it away for me.

"I won't." I turned and walked away, not looking back.

Why did I get the feeling that he was going to do something crazy stupid?


	27. The Gang

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**Three Weeks Later:**

The sound of my phone ringing startled me so much that I almost rolled right of bed. I picked it up; the call was from an unknown number. I pressed the answer button and held it to my ear.

"Hello?" I said, stifling a yawn.

"Is this Clove?"

"Yes, who is this?" I asked warily.

"It's Marvel."

"What do you want?" Marvel was one of the ones who hated me for breaking up with Cato.

"I'm in Martinsburg." He sighed.

"Um, okay?" Why was he calling me to tell me he was forty minutes away from Berkeley Springs? I was pretty sure that it was one of the closest cities to us.

"Let me finish. I'm in Martinsburg, about to bail out Cato. He was caught shoplifting; I think he's going to get fined." Marvel sighed again.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, shocked. Cato had been going of the rails lately. He got suspended two weeks ago for three days for starting fights. He was failing all his classes and he'd been missing school. He'd started hanging out with this guy called Boggs, who was three years older than Cato and had a weird scar going down his back. Boggs wasn't what you would call a nice person. Now this?

"Unfortunately, no. I promised my dad I'd come down and see him because he lives in this area. Could you come pick Cato up? We're at the correctional centre."

"And there's nobody else you could call?" I sighed and ran a hand over my head.

"No, sorry. He's kind of cut himself off from all of his friends except me." Marvel answered.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." I sighed again and pulled a jumper on over my vest top.

"Thanks, Clove. He misses you, you know."

"I miss him too." I admitted.

"Then give him another chance! I'm sure that he's only doing this because of you." Marvel said.

"Are you blaming _me _for this? Because he was the one playing tonsil tennis with Becca Williamson!" I snapped quietly, because Lydia was still sleeping.

"I didn't mean it to sound like that. Cato doesn't deal with heartbreak very well. I think he's only been broken up with once before, when he was fifteen. It damaged his pride, but he got over it after, like, two days. I've never seen him like this before. I think that he's hurting badly and just trying to get your attention, even if he doesn't realise that that's what he's doing."

"Marvel, you sound like some kind of guru. What are you, the lovemeister?" I rolled my eyes.

"Just give him another chance, Clove." He sighed.

"It's not that simple. I'll see you soon." I hung before he could tell me that it was that simple, if I stopped letting my pride get in the way.

-Line Break-

"Get in the car." I said as I pulled up next to the correctional centre. Marvel and Cato were sat on a bench, and Cato looked pretty pissed off.

"See you guys later." Marvel said after Cato had climbed into the passenger seat next to me. He smirked and walked off down the street, looking as arrogant as ever. I rolled my eyes and turned to face Cato.

"So what did you try and steal? Vodka? Beer? Condoms?" I asked, pulling back into the road and driving the opposite way to Marvel.

"I don't have to answer that. Why did you even agree to come and get me? We both know I'm not exactly your favourite person right now." He asked, looking out the window.

"Marvel asked. He said something about you having no other friends." I smirked. His head shot round t face me.

"What? That jerk. I have friends."

"Yeah, Boggs." I sighed and absentmindedly started playing with my hair, keeping one hand on the steering wheel. "What are you doing to yourself, Cato?"

"Nothing. I'm the same person I was four weeks ago, only now I'm single." He said bitterly. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"I'm worried about you." I answered truthfully. I hadn't been with Cato for a month now and I was missing him like crazy.

"Really? You didn't seem worried when I was in hospital two weeks ago, unconscious for two hours because I had to have my shoulder popped back into place!" He said loudly, not quite shouting yet.

"Oh, I was worried. I stayed next to you and then I left when I saw you were waking up because the Cato I knew is long gone." I said, silencing him. He looked guilty for the rest of the ride back to Berkeley Springs.

"You can drop me off at the Bandstand." He said, his voice cracking from not speaking for almost an hour.

"What? No, I'm taking you straight home. I need to make sure you don't do anything else stupid."

"Just do it, Clove." He sighed.

"Fine." I said simply. I pulled up next to the park entrance.

"Tulips, right?" Cato said as he got out of the car.

"What about them?"

"They're your favourite flower, aren't they?" He leaned against the open car door.

"Yes…"

"Well, that's what I was trying to steal. I didn't have enough money on me for a full bunch. I'm not completely gone yet, Clovey." He grinned as he slammed the door shut and walked off in the direction of the bandstand.

**Cato's POV:**

I know what she thinks. It's the same as what everyone else thinks. They think that I've changed, become a bad person and now I do drugs, start fights and get laid all day because I think I'm so badass. To be honest, I just felt like I needed a change. I thought that maybe a new lifestyle and new friends would help me get over Clove. Yeah…It hasn't worked yet.

"Cato, you showed. I heard you got arrested and thought you were done for, man." Boggs grinned as I approached him at the Bandstand. Boggs was twenty, and a pretty dangerous guy. He was a member of a gang down in Martinsburg. He'd been sent up her for recruiting and had found me.

"I wouldn't miss this." I said, keeping my face blank of emotion. Showing emotion around guys like Boggs was a stupid idea, one that could get you killed. He reached into his pocket and brought out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit one and offered me the pack. He laughed when I shook my head.

"I forgot, you think you're way to above the rest of us to have a ciggie." He grinned like a mad man.

"If I thought that, I wouldn't be here. Would I?" I glared at him.

"Suppose so. You ready?" He asked, taking a knife from his belt. I lifted up my shirt and turned around.

"Yeah. Go ahead." I tensed, waiting for the pain.

"Easy there, Mr Eager. You only get half the scratch now and the other half in a year's time if we decide to make you a full member." He informed me.

"Yeah, I got that. Do it already, I haven't got all fucking day." I said through gritted teeth. I heard Boggs chuckle, then I felt the knife piercing my skin. He dragged it down half the length of my back, starting at my left shoulder. I bit down on my cheeks to stop myself from making any kind of noise.

"Cato Ludwig, as I draw this knife across this back I offer to you the chance to join El Valiente. Do right by us and we will do right by you. Win against whatever we throw at you and in a year's time you may find yourself a full member. If we deem you worthy of the gang, your scar will be complete." He said the words as he dragged the knife across my back. When the half line was complete, he hid the knife in his belt again.

"You might wanna get a bandage on that." He smirked.

"Will do." I muttered. I started to walk away, but Boggs called me back.

"We have the first test. It's Monday tomorrow. We want to set your little school on fire. It can be whenever you want, but it has to be this week."

"Okay." I said. As I was walking away, I decided that I'd pull the fire alarm and _then _burn the place. At least that way I could make sure Clove and Marvel were out of the building. I pulled my shirt over my head as I walked and it instantly stuck to my back. I could feel the blood trickling. I only lived twenty minutes from here; hopefully I could get home before I bled out. I walked out of the gate and almost slapped myself. Clove was still sat in her car, watching me walk slowly along. She must have noticed the blood trail because her eyes widened and she rolled down the window.

"Get in the car. Now. I'm taking you to the hospital." She said, narrowing her eyes.

"No. I'd rather bleed out and die than go to that stupid place again." I frowned.

"Then I'll take you back to mine and stitch you up. Just getting in the car before I fucking make you."

"Aw, Clovey. You _do _care." I said sarcastically before pulling myself into her car.

"Lean back and I won't." She said, eying my bloody t-shirt.

**So, this fic is coming to an end soon. :( But I have a sequel planned and it'll be up really soon after I finish this one. If it isn't, it's because I have two other ideas for Clato stories that I'm interested in writing. :) Oh, and thank you for all the reviews. They mean so much to me that I've decided to update again today. That and I'm bust tomorrow. :)**


	28. We'll Be Watching The Girl

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Also, the happier Clato oneshot I promised is up. It's called Under The Apple Tree.**

"Come on. Get up slowly; you're bleeding like a fountain." I sighed and climbed out of the car. I walked around to Cato's side and locked the car after he had got out.

"I'm fine." He muttered.

"Can you walk?" I asked, ignoring his lie.

"I said I'm fine, Clove. I can walk on my own." He sighed. I raised an eyebrow as he hobbled slowly up the driveway. I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arm around his waist to help him walk.

"If I help you, we might reach the door because you collapse." I said sarcastically. Cato grunted in reply and let me help him walk. As soon as he was inside, he seemed to relax a little. I led him into the kitchen and almost slapped myself when I saw my parents sat down, finishing off their lunch.

"Who's this, Clove?" My dad asked.

"Oh, this is Cato. We were just gonna grab something to eat." I responded, hoping that they wouldn't notice the blood trickling down Cato's back and onto the floor.

"Your boyfriend?" My mom asked, smiling slightly. I mentally facepalmed.

"Um, yeah." I said. Cato smirked at me, but I ignored him.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Fuhrman. It's nice to finally meet you." He smiled warmly.

"Why hadn't we met him before, Clove?" My dad asked, looking at us over his sandwich.

"Oh Clove's just been keeping me very busy, Mr Fuhrman." Cato said, winking. My dad's eyes widened. I was going to kill Cato. Painfully.

"Oh, um. Well in that case, we'll be leaving you alone. I'm sure you two, um, crazy kids don't want us around." He said. He dropped the rest of his sandwich and pulled my mother out of the room. I pushed Cato forward and he sat down on the table.

"That was _not _funny." I hissed.

"Oh, it was. You should've seen your face!" He said and started cracking up. I stomped over to the door and locked it.

"It wasn't! My dad will never be able to look me in the eye again!" I protested. I walked over to the medical supplies cupboard and pulled out the same kit Cato had used for Lydia's shoulder. It felt like a lifetime ago.

"You loved the thought of it really, Clovey." He grinned. I slammed the kit down on the table next to him.

"If I did, we'd still be together." I answered. He looked away from me, clearly hurt by my words.

"I'm sorry." He said as I threaded the surgical thread through the sterile needle.

"It's okay, I'll just tell him you were joking." I sighed. I pulled the back of his shirt up.

"Not just for that. For everything else." He answered. I stayed quiet, unsure of what to say, and assessed his cut.

"You're gonna need to take it off." I said softly. He nodded and pulled his shirt off. If my parents were to walk in now, they'd have panic attacks. I heard someone thumping against the door. The lock gave way and Lydia fell into the room.

"Owwww." She moaned from the ground.

"Really, Lyds? You couldn't have just knocked?" I asked.

"In…Pain…" She mumbled.

"Sorry if I'm not very sympathetic. I've got bigger 'owies' to deal with." I sighed. Lydia looked up and noticed Cato sat on the table, shirtless. He waved cheerfully at her.

"What'd he doing here? Did he get the shit beaten out of him by another thirteen year old girl?" She smirked.

"No. I got a knife sliced down my back." He responded.

"Yeah, care to explain why?" I asked as I started stitching up his back.

"Not really." He answered.

"Oh, you'll tell me." I said forcefully. I stabbed the needle harder into his skin.

"Ouch! It's probably better for you if I don't tell you." He responded, clenching his teeth.

"Then explain to me why you cheated on my sister." Lydia said, sitting down next to him on the table. I stayed silent, focusing on the gash in front of me.

"I was a jerk, wasn't I?" He sighed and ruffled Lydia's hair. She nodded enthusiastically.

"You deserved that black eye."

"Lydia, I deserved broken legs for what I did to Clove." He sighed again.

"Are you saying I get to break your legs?" Lydia asked excitedly.

"No, Lydia. You cannot break my ex-boyfriend's legs." I scolded. I finished stitching up the gash and pulled a roll of bandage out from the medical kit.

"I'd let you, if it meant I got another chance." He smiled. I wrapped the bandage around him. It went around his chest as well, and it kind of looked like I'd mummified him. Lydia looked at me hopefully.

"Go get one of dad's old hoodies." I ordered. She reluctantly left the room. When I heard her going up the stairs, I walked around to face Cato.

"We should talk." I sighed. He looked at me, silently telling me to carry on. "I…Maybe I was a little harsh on you."

"You weren't. I deserved it." He smiled weakly. "Though if you wanted to try again, I'd be more than willingly."

"Tell me what happened and I'll _think _about giving you another chance." I responded. Cato ran a hand through his hair, debating in his head whether to tell me or not.

"I'm being tested. If I prove I'm good enough, then they'll let finish the scar and I can join them." He muttered, not looking at me when he spoke.

"'Them'? Who's 'them'?" I asked, worried.

"The gang." He squeezed his eyes shut. I let out a noise that sounded like I was crying and being strangled at the same time.

"You joined a gang?"

"Not yet. In a year's time, they'll tell me if I'm good enough. They're probably watching me right now, Clove. Seeing how I deal with the cut."

"Why?" I whispered, massaging my temples. This was too much. Cato, my funny, charming, amazing Cato had tried to join a _gang_.

"I didn't know what else to do, Clove. I made you my world and then I fucked things up. I didn't know what to do when you told me not to bother you again. Then Boggs found me and told me about El Valiente. I thought maybe if…If I joined then I'd feel…Needed again." He opened his eyes again. There was so much pain in them that I couldn't help but let tears run down my cheeks.

"It's my fault." I sobbed.

"Don't cry, Clovey. I'm the only one to blame." He stretched his arms out and I ran into them. I sobbed on his shoulder as he stroked my hair and whispered in my ear.

"I love you." He repeated it until I calmed down.

"I'm still thinking about whether I should give you another chance." I said, wiping away the tears. Everybody breaks down sometimes and I was lucky that my breakdowns only lasted for a few minutes. I pulled out of his embrace as Lydia barged into the room. She tossed an old black shirt at Cato.

"Here. You can keep it, dad doesn't wear it." Lydia tactfully ignored my red eyes, knowing that if she brought it up I'd hit her.

"Thanks, kid." He said as he pulled the shirt on. "I should get going."

"Need a ride?" I asked.

"No, it's okay. I'll walk." He responded, pulling his phone out of his pocket and sending a quick text.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You've lost quite a lot of blood."

"I'll be fine. Oh, and don't come to the door with me. Please." He looked at me seriously. I nodded and watched as he made his way out of the kitchen.

**Cato's POV:**

"What now, Boggs?" I asked as I closed Clove's door behind me. He was stood on the concrete just in front of the driveway.

"I thought you could do with this." He grinned and handed me a carrier bag. I peered inside it. There were four bottles of vodka inside it.

"What for?" I scowled at him.

"For the burning." He grinned again.

"Fine, I'll do it tomorrow. Get it over with." I sighed.

"Good boy. That girl…What was her name, Claire?" He pointed up at Clove's house.

"It's Clove." I muttered.

"Whatever. She's not going to be a problem, is she? Because you know how we deal with problems in El Valiente. We'll beat the crap out of her if she causes trouble." He sneered at me. I resisted the strong urge to punch him.

"She won't be a problem." I promised. "Now, leave. I don't want you anywhere near her house." I growled at him. He chuckled and starred to walk away.

"Will you be joining me for lunch?"

"No. Now leave." I clenched my fists.

"Fine. But we'll be watching the girl."

**Okay, that was a kind of suckish ending. THANK YOU for the reviews. :) I wonder if we can get to 100 before the end of the fic. ;) Also, the sequel will be a bit more darker and chaotic than this one… Dun dun dun… ;)**


	29. Do You Want Me To Punch You In The Eye?

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :( In this fic Vick is the same age as Lydia, Prim and Rory because it's AU. :D**

**Lydia's POV:**

"BYE CLOVE!" I screamed as I shut the front door. I practically skipped down the driveway in my haste to reach the Bandstand. I was going to meet up with Prim, Rory, Vick and Rue. Rory was bringing his fourteen year old friend, Chris. I hadn't met him, but he sounded alright. I skipped the whole way to the Bandstand, ignoring the glares I got from the old people. They were just jealous of my awesome skipping skills because their joints don't work anymore. I reached the Bandstand and gave everybody a hug except for Chris because I didn't know him. Hugging strangers is weird, even for me. I was the last one to arrive. Vick kissed me on the cheek and I smiled at him.

"So Rory, who's your friend?" Rue asked, smiling at Nick.

"I'm Chris Ludwig." He said. He had blonde hair and brown eyes and looked kind of familiar.

"Ludwig…" I muttered. "Do you have a brother called Cato?"

"Yeah. What's your name?" He asked. He looked kind of confused. I would too if some random girl I'd never met knew that I was Clove's sister.

"Lydia Fuhrman. Clove's sister." I said proudly. Clove was a TTE victor now. People should be bowing down to us and offering me free candy. They weren't yet, but they would be one day. Chris' eyes widened.

"Clove? As in the bitch that broke my brother's heart?" He asked. I flew at him and clamped my hands around his neck.

"My. Sister. Is. Not. A. Bitch!" I yelled as I strangled the shit out of him. Vick pulled me backwards and I released Chris' neck.

"Calm down, Lyds. We know Clove's not a bitch." He said and held onto my hand, probably to stop me from murdering Chris. I was crazy protective of Clove, especially after that jerk Johnny killed our brother. It wasn't fair; I never got to know Joey properly. He was, like, six years older than me. He was supposed to protect me, tease me and beat the crap out of boys like Vick that were interested in me. He was gone now, because of Johnny.

"Well, his brother's a dick! Clove didn't do anything wrong!" I yelled.

"She broke his heart!"

"He cheated on her with a slut!"

"I haven't seen him cry in five years and he cried over your sister! To me, that makes her bitch." He glared at me.

"Dude, do you _want _me to punch you in the eye?" I asked threateningly.

"Depends. Do you _want _to lose your two front teeth?" He asked. My friends all gasped. _Nobody _ever challenged me like that, because I am one scary girl.

"Oh, please. You're all talk and no tackle!" I laughed. He swung at me. I dodged, remembering what Clove had taught me. I kicked him in the groin. When he doubled over in pain, I punched him in the face.

"Lydia, stop it!" Vick shouted and pulled me back again. "I'm taking you home."

"Chris? Lydia?" I turned around to see who had I said my name. It was Cato.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I left your house twenty minutes ago and decided to walk the long way home through the park. What happened to my brother?" He asked, looking at Chris. He was lying on the ground, moaning. Shit. How was I supposed to tell Cato I beat the shit out of his brother?

"Lydia kicked his ass." Prim said.

"Why?"

"He called my sister a bitch!" I complained. Cato extended a hand to Chris and pulled him up.

"Chris, seriously. Don't start fights with Lydia. You're lucky she didn't chase you with a knife." He sighed.

"And…" I prompted him. Cato sighed again.

"And Clove is not a bitch. She's lovely."

"Good boy." I smiled. "But fuck my sister about again and I'll give you another black eye."

"Dude, is that how you got that black eye? I thought you said you got mugged." Rory laughed as Cato went red.

"Yeah, well. She's scary, okay? And I deserved it anyway." He muttered.

"What's in the bag?" Rue asked, curious as ever.

"Um…Water." He said.

"It's vodka, isn't it?" I sighed. He frowned at me.

"How did you know?"

"Because you're _Cato_. You don't buy bottles of water. Unless you were shoplifting again." I smirked.

"Um, I'm going to take Lydia home. You know, before she beats the crap out of someone else." Vick said. He was still scared of Cato after the prank he and Clove pulled.

"Good idea. See ya, kid." Cato said. He grabbed Chris' forearm and pulled him along after him.

"Kylie's going to die of laughter when I tell her what happened." I heard him say to Chris as they walked away. I heard Chris groan and then they went out of earshot.

"See you later, guys." Vick said as he pulled me away from the bandstand.

"Byeee!" I yelled over my shoulder.

-Line Break-

**Clove's POV:**

"So, what are you gonna wear for the spring dance next week?" Katniss asked. I placed my phone between my ear and shoulder as I opened the front door. Lydia and Vick were stood outside. I opened the door wider so they could come in. I took my phone in my hand again after I'd closed the door. I followed Lydia and Vick into the living room.

"Oh, I don't know. Do I even have to go?" I sighed.

"Yes! Everyone's going! And who knows, you might get voted Spring Queen."

"Not likely. I'm a new kid." I smirked.

"Doesn't matter. So, what are you going to wear?" She asked.

"I'm sure I can find a dress in my closet somewhere. I have to go now; Lydia's back early with kind of worries me. You know what she's like." I smiled.

"Okay. See you tomorrow, Clove." I pressed the end call button and tossed my phone on the couch.

"So, why are you back so soon?" I asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Lydia beat the shit out of Cato's brother." Vick answered. I probably paled or something, because Lydia burst out laughing.

"Please tell me you didn't."

"Hey! He called you a bitch!" Lydia protested.

"He could have called me the fucking whore queen for all I care! You beat the shit out of Cato's _brother_!" I yelled.

"I was defending you!"

"Vick?" I took a deep breath. "I think you should leave. No matter how many screams you here, keep walking and do _not _dial 911. I need to deal with Lydia." I cracked my knuckles.

"Don't leave me with her!" Lydia clung to his arm. Vick looked at me and then at Lydia, then back at me and back at Lydia.

"Umm…"

"Whatever, you can stay. I'm going to deal with her anyway." I dived on top of Lydia.

"Ouch! Jesus Clove, what have you been _eating_?" She asked. I glared at her.

"Now you're really gonna get it." I started tickling her sides. She screamed and kicked so much that we went tumbling off of the couch and I continued tickling her on the carpet.

"Stop…Stop!"

"Say you're sorry!"

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! HELP!" She yelled as I tickled her stomach.

"Good girl." I smirked and stood up. I went to walk out of the living room, but she kicked my legs out from underneath me. I fell on top of her.

"Oh, it is _on _Lydia. It's on like never before."

**I wanted to do a lighter, more stress-free chapter. I've only planned for about two more, but there will be a squeal! :) **


	30. Because I Love You

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

"What do you want now?" I sighed after I'd flipped my phone open.

"Hello to you too, Clove." Marvel grumbled through the phone.

"Marvel it's half past seven, I'm trying to get ready for school! What do you want?"

"Maybe I just wanted to hear your lovely voice." He said.

"Say that to me in public and I'll kick your ass." I frowned.

"Yeah, if Cato doesn't beat you to it." I could hear the grin in his voice. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked for the third time.

"You know, that's not very nice. Maybe I just wanted to call you to say hi, or to tell you that it's Monday, or-"

"MARVEL!"

"Okay, okay! Jesus, Clove. I'm worried about Cato."

"Aren't we all?" I sighed, laying down on my bed and facing the ceiling.

"No, I mean I think he's up to something. Rory told Gale that he was walking through the park yesterday with four bottles of vodka." Marvel sound genuinely worried.

"Maybe he was just stocking up for a party or something?" I suggested.

"Nah. He stocks up over the summer. It's got to be something else." My thoughts drifted to the gang, El Valiente. Could he have bought it for them?

"Maybe he was stocking up for a friend." It was as close as I could get without telling Marvel about the gang.

"Maybe. I have to go now. See you around, Fuhrman."

"See you, Quaid." He hung up on me and I tossed my phone inside my bag, sighing.

"He told me it was water." Lydia said. She had been searching for her pen when I was on the phone and I guess I forgot she was there.

"What?"

"When we saw him in the park yesterday, he didn't want to tell us the truth. He said it was water." She said as she shouldered her bag.

"I guess we'll find out what he's doing eventually. Come on Lyds, we're gonna be late."

-Line Break-

"Remain calm! Please, walk do not run and gather on the back field!" Mr Snow, the evil World Politics teacher, yelled as the fire alarm went off.

"Do you think there's actually a fire?" Katniss whispered in my ear as we made our way out of the class room and down the corridor.

"Honestly? I have no idea." I responded. It could have been a drill, but deep down I knew it wasn't. Between Boggs, Cato, and the gang there was no way this could be a drill. Somebody grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the corridor wall.

"What the fuck, Marvel?!" I yelled when I saw it was only him.

"Come with me." He whispered.

"There's a fucking fire drill and you want to pull me off into some room? What would Cashmere say?" I asked, glaring at him. He rolled his eyes.

"I saw Cato walk this way with his bottles of vodka. I think he's going to try and start a fire."

"He wouldn't…Would he?" I asked. Marvel shot me a look that said 'I guess we're about to find out.' I raced after him, along corridors and up a staircase.

"He'll start in the science block. The chemicals and acids will burn easily." I panted as we sprinted up another set of stairs. We burst into the first science room we saw. Cato was stood on a desk, lighter in hand. The vodka had been poured all over the floor and other desks.

**Cato's POV:**

My head shot up when I heard the door fly open.

"What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be on the field with the others!" I snapped. Marvel frowned at me. Clove blinked a few times, I don't think I'd ever spoken to her like that.

"What the fuck are you doing, man?" Marvel asked, stepping forward and pulling me down off of the desk.

"What's it to you?" I spat.

"You're my best friend, that's what!" He yelled.

"Leave, Marvel." I said, looking away from him. He grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"Not until you give me the fucking lighter!" He let go of my collar and held his hand out for the lighter.

"No. I'll only talk to Clove." I muttered. A look of hurt flashed over Marvel's features. He shook his head and left the room, closing the door behind him. Clove waited until Marvel had gone down the staircase before speaking.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm burning the school down." I answered. There was no point in lying to Clove, she'd see straight through it.

"Why?!" She asked, clearly panicked. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Because they want me too, to prove myself."

"Are you crazy?! You can't burn the fucking school down! You'll go to prison! Again!" She yelled, prodding me in the chest.

"Try telling them that! I didn't go through the pain on getting that half-scar for nothing, Clove. I'm not throwing it all away now." I said, frowning.

"Don't do it." She whispered.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"One? I've got lots, but I guess the main one is I don't want you to go to prison!" She rolled her eyes.

"Why?"

"Because I love you!" Her declaration shocked me. When she said she'd give me another chance, I presumed that she'd say no again.

"Does this mean you're giving me another chance?" I asked, trying not to get my hopes up too much. She hesitated for a few seconds before stepping closer and hugging me. I automatically wrapped my arms around her and breathed in her scent.

"Yes." She muttered in my ear.

"Then I won't do it. I don't need the gang if I'm needed by you." I whispered, dropping the lighter.

"You've always been needed by me, Cato." She withdrew herself from my embrace. "Now, come on. This floor isn't going to scrub its self."

**Only one chapter left now! I hope you're all happy that they finally got back together. :)**


	31. Damn You

**I don't own The Hunger Games. :(**

**One Week Later:**

"You're not serious." Madge said when she opened her front door. She was wearing a white strapless dress that sparkled in the light and reached her knees. Katniss and Annie were stood behind her. They were both wearing similar style dresses, but Katniss' was floral print and Annie's was the colour of the ocean.

"Oh, I'm serious." I said, stepping inside. I was wearing white jeans, a black tank top, black pumps and a soft white cardigan.

"It's a dance, Clove! You have to wear a dress!" Madge complained. I could see Katniss trying to stifle a laugh behind her.

"No! The last time I wore a dress I felt really awkward." I frowned. There was no way I was ever going to wear that red devil dress again.

"But you have too!"

"No!" I didn't tell Madge that Cato and I had planned to dress casually just to see her freak out.

"Oh just leave her, Madge. At least she's comfortable." Annie said, glaring at her stilettos. She looked like she wanted to throw them against a wall and her feet were already going red.

"BUT IT'S NOT LOGICAL! THIS IS A _DANCE _NOT A MALL TRIP!" She yelled.

"Jesus, Madge. Breathe, will you?" Katniss said, rubbing her ears.

"But she's-"

"WE GET IT! SHE'S NOT WEARING A FUCKING DRESS! WHO GIVES A SHIT?!" We all looked at Annie in shock. Sweet, innocent Annie who probably hadn't said a curse word in her life until this moment. She blushed when we burst out laughing.

"What? She was annoying me!" Annie complained, but she was smiling through her blush.

"Come on, Clove. I must have _something _in my wardrobe." Madge grabbed my wrist and started to pull me up the huge staircase.

"No, Madge! Stop it! No!" I yelled as she yanked me up the stairs. Years of cheerleading had given her an iron grip though, and I couldn't escape. The doorbell rang when we reached the sixth step. Katniss ran forward to open the door at the same time Madge yelled,

"Don't open that!"

"We heard screaming. Is everything okay?" Finnick asked when he, Gale, Peeta and Cato stepped into the house. Cato glanced at the staircase and started laughing because Madge now had me by the ear and was still trying to drag me up the stairs.

"Cato, what are you _wearing_?! You're worse than Clove!" Madge threw her hands up in the air and I took the opportunity to dart away from her. I sidled up next to Cato and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. The other boys were wearing button-ups and dress pants, but Cato was wearing black jeans a grey polo shirt. Gale helped Madge down the stairs before she had a breakdown. When they reached us, Madge narrowed her eyes at Cato.

"You two planned this, didn't you? You better watch out, Ludwig." She glared at him. When she went back to the banister to pick up her purse, we couldn't help but laugh slightly. Luckily, she didn't hear us.

"We got the, uh, limo you asked for, Madge." Peeta smiled, taking Katniss' hand. Madge nodded excitedly and opened the door to get a look at the limo.

"What kind of sick joke are you playing on me tonight?" She groaned. "First Cato and Clove dress up like they're going for a stroll in the park, and now this!" I pushed her lightly through the door and into the warm night. A van was parked in front of the house with the word 'Limo' spray painted on the side. Madge elbowed me in the ribs when I started laughing.

"Lighten up, Madge!" Katniss laughed as she stepped outside. We all piled into the back of the van. It was a tight fit, so I was sandwiched in between Cato and Annie. I didn't dare sit next to Madge because of her mood. She'd probably find a way to 'accidentally' kill me. When we reached the school, Peeta parked the van and we all stumbled out. A breeze had picked up, and I smirked as the girls started shivering in their dresses. Cato grinned at me before grabbing my hand and charging at full sprint towards the gym.

-Line Break-

"I wouldn't trade this moment for the world, Clovey." Cato said into my hair. His arms were around my waist and mine were around his neck. We were dancing to some old love song and I had my cheek rested on his right shoulder.

"You're so cheesy, Cato." I said, but I blushed anyway.

"That's just my method. Soon you'll be so desperate to hear things like that that you'll let me do whatever I want with you." He joked.

"Like what?" I asked, lifting my head and raising an eyebrow.

"Like this." He smirked and started tickling me. I screamed and started laughing. I slapped Cato on the back of his head until he stopped. Everyone in the gym was staring at us when he finally stopped tickling me.

"Oops." He muttered in my ear. I smiled and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Alright, folks! It's time to announce this year's Spring King and Queen!" The principle announced, cutting the music. Everybody stepped a little closer to the stage to hear him better.

"This year's Spring King, voted by you, is…Finnick Odair!" The crowd cheered and a few girls yelled his name.

"You vote for him?" Cato asked. I nodded in response.

"And this year's Spring Queen is…" The crowd went quiet again. From what I'd heard from Katniss, Spring Queen was quite a bid deal for some of the girls here. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Glimmer readying herself to collect the crown.

"Clove Fuhrman!"

"_Shit_." I muttered. Cato almost fell over he was laughing so hard. I glared at him and pushed my way through the crowd to get to the stage, still wearing my glare.

"Give it up for this year's spring royalty!" The principle said and the crowd cheered again. Once the tiara had been place on my head, Finnick led me onto the dance floor. We were friends, so it was only slightly awkward. Once the song had ended I made my way back to Cato, who was still laughing slightly.

"You _so _fixed the vote." I scowled.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist the opportunity. Besides, did you see Glimmer's face?" He managed to say through his laughter.

"Who really won?" I sighed.

"Cashmere." I made a mental note to give the stupid tiara to her later.

"It's not funny, Cato!"

"Lighten up, Clove."

"Damn you."

"It's funny!"

"It's not!"

"Shut up." He said, pressing his lips against mine to silence me. In Cato's arms, on the dance floor under the flashing strobe lights, I felt something I hadn't felt since Joey died.

I felt whole again.

**So that's it! The sequel will be called Gone With The Wind and will be up later this month. Maybe even next week, I don't know. :) As for my oneshot Under The Apple Tree, should I add a few extra chapters to that and make it like a short-story?**

**Thank you for sticking with this story even when it hit boring parts, I really appreciate it. :) And thank you so much for all the reviews! I'll post here when the sequel's up! ;)**


	32. Sequel

**Okay, I'm literally just about to upload the sequel, Gone With The Wind after I upload this! YAY. :) There's an authors note at the top of the chapter, explaining what it's about and stuff. :) Also, I promise I'll write 1-3 chapters more of Under The Apple Tree as soon as I figure out what to write! I have minor writers block for that, but I've got the plot sorted for GWTW. :) Woohoo!**


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